Narrative:

I was line check airman captain in right seat giving supervised operating experience to new captain who was taxiing at time of incident. We had a normal winter operations landing followed by slow taxi considering slick txwys and ramp. After landing runway 6 we turned off at taxiway H and taxied on taxiway east to the ramp as instructed by ground control. Once on the ramp we had to go northwest because of numerous snow plows and airport vehicles. We were instructed to continue to taxi as we were, and follow another inbound aircraft to gate when we encountered a snow bank left in the taxi zone. Taxiway/ramp edge lights were in view and we were taxiing where we should have been. The #2 engine ingested snow, flaming it out and the right main landing gear also went approximately 2 ft deep in the snow. We were taxiing very slow at the time so stopped quickly but smoothly. We shut down both engines and called for help to dig us out. The ramp was covered with snow and caused a total 'white out' of any snow banks on ramp. Airport police and air carrier station operations personnel commented that airport vehicles had been running into snow banks all day because they couldn't see them. Ground control watched us taxi as instructed and obviously didn't see the snow bank either, to warn us. Snow was plowed to center of taxi zone and not out to the edge. Bad place to leave it and did not warn us. We could not taxi any closer to terminal because of plowing operation and a large snow bank they were working on.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MLG STRANDED AFTER FLC RAN INTO A SNOW BANK ON RAMP AREA TAXIING TO PARKING.

Narrative: I WAS LINE CHK AIRMAN CAPT IN R SEAT GIVING SUPERVISED OPERATING EXPERIENCE TO NEW CAPT WHO WAS TAXIING AT TIME OF INCIDENT. WE HAD A NORMAL WINTER OPS LNDG FOLLOWED BY SLOW TAXI CONSIDERING SLICK TXWYS AND RAMP. AFTER LNDG RWY 6 WE TURNED OFF AT TXWY H AND TAXIED ON TXWY E TO THE RAMP AS INSTRUCTED BY GND CTL. ONCE ON THE RAMP WE HAD TO GO NW BECAUSE OF NUMEROUS SNOW PLOWS AND ARPT VEHICLES. WE WERE INSTRUCTED TO CONTINUE TO TAXI AS WE WERE, AND FOLLOW ANOTHER INBOUND ACFT TO GATE WHEN WE ENCOUNTERED A SNOW BANK LEFT IN THE TAXI ZONE. TXWY/RAMP EDGE LIGHTS WERE IN VIEW AND WE WERE TAXIING WHERE WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN. THE #2 ENG INGESTED SNOW, FLAMING IT OUT AND THE R MAIN LNDG GEAR ALSO WENT APPROX 2 FT DEEP IN THE SNOW. WE WERE TAXIING VERY SLOW AT THE TIME SO STOPPED QUICKLY BUT SMOOTHLY. WE SHUT DOWN BOTH ENGS AND CALLED FOR HELP TO DIG US OUT. THE RAMP WAS COVERED WITH SNOW AND CAUSED A TOTAL 'WHITE OUT' OF ANY SNOW BANKS ON RAMP. ARPT POLICE AND ACR STATION OPS PERSONNEL COMMENTED THAT ARPT VEHICLES HAD BEEN RUNNING INTO SNOW BANKS ALL DAY BECAUSE THEY COULDN'T SEE THEM. GND CTL WATCHED US TAXI AS INSTRUCTED AND OBVIOUSLY DIDN'T SEE THE SNOW BANK EITHER, TO WARN US. SNOW WAS PLOWED TO CTR OF TAXI ZONE AND NOT OUT TO THE EDGE. BAD PLACE TO LEAVE IT AND DID NOT WARN US. WE COULD NOT TAXI ANY CLOSER TO TERMINAL BECAUSE OF PLOWING OP AND A LARGE SNOW BANK THEY WERE WORKING ON.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.