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Cmi tower controller reported an aircraft that could not see due to snow on window landed on a closed runway with out incident.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1725031 |
| Time | |
| Date | 202002 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1801-2400 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | CMI.Tower |
| State Reference | IL |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Small Aircraft |
| Flight Phase | Descent |
| Route In Use | Other Instrument Approach |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Local |
| Qualification | Air Traffic Control Fully Certified |
| Experience | Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 18 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Track / Heading All Types Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence |
Narrative:
Small aircraft was inbound to the airport on the ILS runway 32R. The field was IFR with a low ceiling and low visibility with snow. The airport was in the middle of snow removal operations and had recently closed runway 32L/14R; runway 4/22; and numerous taxiways due to the amount of snow on those surfaces. PA-28 on approximately a six mile final reported their windscreen was completely obscured and they had zero forward visibility and could only see out the side windows. At that time I considered them an emergency and had a cpc on break to come up to assist. The other cpc called [airport rescue and fire fighting] and we had the fire trucks roll. When I was able to get a visual on the aircraft I could tell the aircraft was lined up with runway 32L and on very short final and was not in a position they could have safely maneuvered back to runway 32R. There weren't any vehicles on the runway and I told the aircraft they could land on the runway even though it was closed. I only had a split second to make a decision and I felt the best option at that point was for the aircraft to try and land on the snow covered runway and not climb back up for another approach and have more snow and ice accumulate on the aircraft. The aircraft shouldn't have been flying in the conditions.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: CMI Tower Controller reported an aircraft that could not see due to snow on window landed on a closed runway with out incident.
Narrative: Small aircraft was inbound to the airport on the ILS Runway 32R. The field was IFR with a low ceiling and low visibility with snow. The airport was in the middle of snow removal operations and had recently closed Runway 32L/14R; Runway 4/22; and numerous taxiways due to the amount of snow on those surfaces. PA-28 on approximately a six mile final reported their windscreen was completely obscured and they had zero forward visibility and could only see out the side windows. At that time I considered them an emergency and had a CPC on break to come up to assist. The other CPC called [airport rescue and fire fighting] and we had the fire trucks roll. When I was able to get a visual on the aircraft I could tell the aircraft was lined up with Runway 32L and on very short final and was not in a position they could have safely maneuvered back to Runway 32R. There weren't any vehicles on the runway and I told the aircraft they could land on the runway even though it was closed. I only had a split second to make a decision and I felt the best option at that point was for the aircraft to try and land on the snow covered runway and not climb back up for another approach and have more snow and ice accumulate on the aircraft. The aircraft shouldn't have been flying in the conditions.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.