Narrative:

After several tows ramp closed due to lightning. Myself and my partner moved from supertug to paats (park at anytime) due to lightning closing the field. Upon being assigned to paats I promptly noticed [aircraft] red tags due to paats lights (stop lights on top of truck). I also noticed that the flag pole was damaged and would not allow for me to fly the flag. Upon doing the user check which was not previously done even though it was used to park an aircraft previously. I did confirm that the paats lights did in fact freeze up intermittently. After starting the rotation around the terminal with strobes siren and frozen amber light clearing the rest of the personnel from the ramp (did not get the all call over radio). While doing so I notified supervisor on duty of the issue and declined parking until I could ensure ramp was clear of personnel. Additionally; I voiced my concern with the lights and was instructed to verbally park via air to ground. This is not a standard procedure. Once I picked up my partner and declared ready to park I reset the lights for the 3rd time I attempted to make contact and was unable. Operations still does not seem to be on the same page and give holding aircraft our frequency. Once contact established PIC was notified of light issues would be parked short and verbal would be the fall back and if any steady light for more than 2 seconds should be questioned.additionally; due to covid the team is staffed short and split between two break rooms. Giving little time to disinfect the cab as previous crew was from a separate break room.in summary. Ground support equipment only one of two paats available at this time. Neither fully equipped with lights or sirens. Covid precautions not adhered to (mixing break rooms). Lighter schedule necessitating more tows forcing crews to perform multiple tasks working light due to covid precautions. Training of back up procedures in the event of inop lights/sirens/radio.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Ground employee reported problems associated with clearing the ramp during a lightning storm and while parking aircraft.

Narrative: After several tows ramp closed due to lightning. Myself and my partner moved from SuperTug to PAATS (Park At Anytime) due to lightning closing the field. Upon being assigned to PAATS I promptly noticed [aircraft] red tags due to PAATS lights (stop lights on top of truck). I also noticed that the flag pole was damaged and would not allow for me to fly the flag. Upon doing the user check which was not previously done even though it was used to park an aircraft previously. I did confirm that the PAATS lights did in fact freeze up intermittently. After starting the rotation around the terminal with strobes siren and frozen amber light clearing the rest of the personnel from the ramp (did not get the all call over radio). While doing so I notified Supervisor on duty of the issue and declined parking until I could ensure ramp was clear of personnel. Additionally; I voiced my concern with the lights and was instructed to verbally park via air to ground. This is not a standard procedure. Once I picked up my partner and declared ready to park I reset the lights for the 3rd time I attempted to make contact and was unable. Operations still does not seem to be on the same page and give holding aircraft our frequency. Once contact established PIC was notified of light issues would be parked short and verbal would be the fall back and if any steady light for more than 2 seconds should be questioned.Additionally; due to COVID the team is staffed short and split between two break rooms. Giving little time to disinfect the cab as previous crew was from a separate break room.In summary. Ground Support Equipment only one of two PAATS available at this time. Neither fully equipped with lights or sirens. COVID precautions not adhered to (mixing break rooms). Lighter schedule necessitating more tows forcing crews to perform multiple tasks working light due to COVID precautions. Training of back up procedures in the event of inop lights/sirens/radio.

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.