Narrative:

On takeoff roll at jackson hole, we noticed the snow plow on the runway just below V1. We applied full power and rotated to clear the snow plow by at least 100 ft. This was the first time into jackson hole for both the captain and myself. The captain seemed very well prepared to go into jackson hole. I had spent several hours reviewing the information provided about jackson hole and winter operations into this challenging airport. We were delayed getting into the airport the previous evening waiting for runway conditions to be reported as fair or better. The jac AWOS WX was reported as winds 200 degrees 20 KTS gusting to 26 KTS, 010 scattered, 017 broken, 029 overcast, visibility 3 mi, temperature 32 degrees F, but actual conditions were worse -- approximately 1 mi visibility with blowing snow. We had started engines and began taxiing when there was a delay with our clearance. We held our position abeam the ramp area on the parallel taxiway. Upon receiving our clearance from slc, we resumed our taxi parallel to the remaining 2/3 of the runway while monitoring unicom. I noted the runway was clear the length of our taxi. As we crossed the hold line I called 'entering runway 18 for takeoff' on this frequency. A female voice queried and I repeated my call that we were on takeoff roll runway 18. At this time we were past 80 KTS. She responded with a request to report off, icing and ride conditions. I said roger. Then an unidented male voice said 'I'm still on the runway.' I announced 'there is a plow on the runway.' at this point we were passing approximately 110 KTS. I looked closely and saw a vehicle as I applied full power and rotated. The captain acknowledged the vehicle and assisted in my rotation as we passed V1/vr (approximately 126 KTS). I would estimate that we cleared the snow plow by at least 100 ft. We were never aware of the snow plow's presence on the runway. During the time we were monitoring unicom we never heard the snow plow call. The snow plow was not well illuminated and a beacon on the plow might have made its presence more obvious in a low visibility situation. Since jackson hole is an uncontrolled field (no tower) anyone operating on or near the runway needs to be alert to all aircraft movement. We should have been more proactive in our position calls during our ground movement. The plow operator should have been cognizant of our calls and acknowledged them. Lastly, the blowing snow prevented an earlier detection of the snow plow. The requests for off, ride and icing reports during our takeoff roll by the female voice might have obstructed the plow operator from broadcasting his presence sooner (at a point/speed where an abort might have been a viable option). Supplemental information from acn 390917: let's start with a seasoned airline captain who is conditioned by standardized working conditions throughout the country, wide and long runways, and airport services that spoil him and protect him. Then let's have him do an overnight turn into jackson hole in the face of a strong overnight snow storm. Totally different radio procedures, different ATC procedures, different airport procedures, a short slippery runway with the airplane at maximum takeoff weight make for a very exciting and distracting time. I had studied all the information my airline provided before the trip and felt comfortable with my knowledge. The inbound flight went very well for the conditions. I provide the following narrative with the lead-in to show a contributing distraction factor, not the largest contributing factor. The understaffed operations didn't have papers all ready nor had time to realize the plane came in with too much fuel (14600 pounds). They needed room for cargo so operations, dispatch and I decided to reduce fuel and defuel the plane. An other air carrier B757 requested clearance, lying about his readiness and received a void time of XA55 and then left the frequency. (He would not have been ready before his void time!) about 4 mins later, we called ATC (ZLC) for clearance. We started up and taxied off of the apron and parked. I saw a couple of plows on the ramp and parallel taxiway but none on the runway. Other air carrier finally came on frequency, was canceled out by ATC and we were given 5 mins to be airborne. As we approached the runway first officer called CTAF 122.8 and announced taking position. I noted that I could see the terminal with the other aircraft parked and I could see lights beyond the airport. It was dawn and it was gray with little contrast in light snow. I was off unicom frequency. As I saw 100 KTS first officer said, 'there's a plow on the runway!' it took several seconds to acquire any image that looked like an object. It was a dim gray spot on right side of runway very far away. No lights were visible. It was within 100 ft of the end and right on the right edge of runway. Not until we were close could we see lights on it. We passed well above it. Neither of us saw any obstacle on the runway from takeoff position. It was virtually obscured by the snow billowing around and over it as it headed into the 20 KT wind. I believe communications, procedures and staffing at jac are substandard under bad WX conditions. Had other air carrier followed the proper pre departure clearance procedures we would not have been pressed for time. Had we not been pressed for time, we more likely would have made the CTAF 'starting to taxi out' call which would have alerted the plow crew sooner. Had the special airport pages in my manual mentioned that advice about the snow plow status was made available on unicom, I would have been more likely to try to communicate with them. Snow plows were not mentioned at all. However, we were also putting too much faith in AWOS (which doesn't mention snow) and our opinion of the visibility. We did not consult FSS. Perhaps FSS should be on 122.8 also with plow information. I believe we depend too much on radio communications at airports. We were trying to work 3 frequencys at once for a while. It would be a very simple and inexpensive thing to do. When any plow is on the runway, the plow crew should place a handheld rotating beacon on the runway at the edge near the takeoff end. This could be SOP at all uncontrolled airports where snow plows operate. If something isn't done, there will be an accident, especially if pilots from large airlines are going to be operating into a place like jackson hole!

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737-300 FLC HAS A NEAR COLLISION WITH A SNOW PLOW THAT WAS ON THE RWY ON TKOF AT JAC, WY. BLOWING SNOW HAD OBSCURED THE PLOW AND THE CREW HAD NOT BEEN ADVISED BY THE UNICOM OPERATOR OF THE PLOW'S PRESENCE.

Narrative: ON TKOF ROLL AT JACKSON HOLE, WE NOTICED THE SNOW PLOW ON THE RWY JUST BELOW V1. WE APPLIED FULL PWR AND ROTATED TO CLR THE SNOW PLOW BY AT LEAST 100 FT. THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME INTO JACKSON HOLE FOR BOTH THE CAPT AND MYSELF. THE CAPT SEEMED VERY WELL PREPARED TO GO INTO JACKSON HOLE. I HAD SPENT SEVERAL HRS REVIEWING THE INFO PROVIDED ABOUT JACKSON HOLE AND WINTER OPS INTO THIS CHALLENGING ARPT. WE WERE DELAYED GETTING INTO THE ARPT THE PREVIOUS EVENING WAITING FOR RWY CONDITIONS TO BE RPTED AS FAIR OR BETTER. THE JAC AWOS WX WAS RPTED AS WINDS 200 DEGS 20 KTS GUSTING TO 26 KTS, 010 SCATTERED, 017 BROKEN, 029 OVCST, VISIBILITY 3 MI, TEMP 32 DEGS F, BUT ACTUAL CONDITIONS WERE WORSE -- APPROX 1 MI VISIBILITY WITH BLOWING SNOW. WE HAD STARTED ENGS AND BEGAN TAXIING WHEN THERE WAS A DELAY WITH OUR CLRNC. WE HELD OUR POS ABEAM THE RAMP AREA ON THE PARALLEL TXWY. UPON RECEIVING OUR CLRNC FROM SLC, WE RESUMED OUR TAXI PARALLEL TO THE REMAINING 2/3 OF THE RWY WHILE MONITORING UNICOM. I NOTED THE RWY WAS CLR THE LENGTH OF OUR TAXI. AS WE CROSSED THE HOLD LINE I CALLED 'ENTERING RWY 18 FOR TKOF' ON THIS FREQ. A FEMALE VOICE QUERIED AND I REPEATED MY CALL THAT WE WERE ON TKOF ROLL RWY 18. AT THIS TIME WE WERE PAST 80 KTS. SHE RESPONDED WITH A REQUEST TO RPT OFF, ICING AND RIDE CONDITIONS. I SAID ROGER. THEN AN UNIDENTED MALE VOICE SAID 'I'M STILL ON THE RWY.' I ANNOUNCED 'THERE IS A PLOW ON THE RWY.' AT THIS POINT WE WERE PASSING APPROX 110 KTS. I LOOKED CLOSELY AND SAW A VEHICLE AS I APPLIED FULL PWR AND ROTATED. THE CAPT ACKNOWLEDGED THE VEHICLE AND ASSISTED IN MY ROTATION AS WE PASSED V1/VR (APPROX 126 KTS). I WOULD ESTIMATE THAT WE CLRED THE SNOW PLOW BY AT LEAST 100 FT. WE WERE NEVER AWARE OF THE SNOW PLOW'S PRESENCE ON THE RWY. DURING THE TIME WE WERE MONITORING UNICOM WE NEVER HEARD THE SNOW PLOW CALL. THE SNOW PLOW WAS NOT WELL ILLUMINATED AND A BEACON ON THE PLOW MIGHT HAVE MADE ITS PRESENCE MORE OBVIOUS IN A LOW VISIBILITY SIT. SINCE JACKSON HOLE IS AN UNCTLED FIELD (NO TWR) ANYONE OPERATING ON OR NEAR THE RWY NEEDS TO BE ALERT TO ALL ACFT MOVEMENT. WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN MORE PROACTIVE IN OUR POS CALLS DURING OUR GND MOVEMENT. THE PLOW OPERATOR SHOULD HAVE BEEN COGNIZANT OF OUR CALLS AND ACKNOWLEDGED THEM. LASTLY, THE BLOWING SNOW PREVENTED AN EARLIER DETECTION OF THE SNOW PLOW. THE REQUESTS FOR OFF, RIDE AND ICING RPTS DURING OUR TKOF ROLL BY THE FEMALE VOICE MIGHT HAVE OBSTRUCTED THE PLOW OPERATOR FROM BROADCASTING HIS PRESENCE SOONER (AT A POINT/SPD WHERE AN ABORT MIGHT HAVE BEEN A VIABLE OPTION). SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 390917: LET'S START WITH A SEASONED AIRLINE CAPT WHO IS CONDITIONED BY STANDARDIZED WORKING CONDITIONS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY, WIDE AND LONG RWYS, AND ARPT SVCS THAT SPOIL HIM AND PROTECT HIM. THEN LET'S HAVE HIM DO AN OVERNIGHT TURN INTO JACKSON HOLE IN THE FACE OF A STRONG OVERNIGHT SNOW STORM. TOTALLY DIFFERENT RADIO PROCS, DIFFERENT ATC PROCS, DIFFERENT ARPT PROCS, A SHORT SLIPPERY RWY WITH THE AIRPLANE AT MAX TKOF WT MAKE FOR A VERY EXCITING AND DISTRACTING TIME. I HAD STUDIED ALL THE INFO MY AIRLINE PROVIDED BEFORE THE TRIP AND FELT COMFORTABLE WITH MY KNOWLEDGE. THE INBOUND FLT WENT VERY WELL FOR THE CONDITIONS. I PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING NARRATIVE WITH THE LEAD-IN TO SHOW A CONTRIBUTING DISTR FACTOR, NOT THE LARGEST CONTRIBUTING FACTOR. THE UNDERSTAFFED OPS DIDN'T HAVE PAPERS ALL READY NOR HAD TIME TO REALIZE THE PLANE CAME IN WITH TOO MUCH FUEL (14600 LBS). THEY NEEDED ROOM FOR CARGO SO OPS, DISPATCH AND I DECIDED TO REDUCE FUEL AND DEFUEL THE PLANE. AN OTHER ACR B757 REQUESTED CLRNC, LYING ABOUT HIS READINESS AND RECEIVED A VOID TIME OF XA55 AND THEN LEFT THE FREQ. (HE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN READY BEFORE HIS VOID TIME!) ABOUT 4 MINS LATER, WE CALLED ATC (ZLC) FOR CLRNC. WE STARTED UP AND TAXIED OFF OF THE APRON AND PARKED. I SAW A COUPLE OF PLOWS ON THE RAMP AND PARALLEL TXWY BUT NONE ON THE RWY. OTHER ACR FINALLY CAME ON FREQ, WAS CANCELED OUT BY ATC AND WE WERE GIVEN 5 MINS TO BE AIRBORNE. AS WE APCHED THE RWY FO CALLED CTAF 122.8 AND ANNOUNCED TAKING POS. I NOTED THAT I COULD SEE THE TERMINAL WITH THE OTHER ACFT PARKED AND I COULD SEE LIGHTS BEYOND THE ARPT. IT WAS DAWN AND IT WAS GRAY WITH LITTLE CONTRAST IN LIGHT SNOW. I WAS OFF UNICOM FREQ. AS I SAW 100 KTS FO SAID, 'THERE'S A PLOW ON THE RWY!' IT TOOK SEVERAL SECONDS TO ACQUIRE ANY IMAGE THAT LOOKED LIKE AN OBJECT. IT WAS A DIM GRAY SPOT ON R SIDE OF RWY VERY FAR AWAY. NO LIGHTS WERE VISIBLE. IT WAS WITHIN 100 FT OF THE END AND RIGHT ON THE R EDGE OF RWY. NOT UNTIL WE WERE CLOSE COULD WE SEE LIGHTS ON IT. WE PASSED WELL ABOVE IT. NEITHER OF US SAW ANY OBSTACLE ON THE RWY FROM TKOF POS. IT WAS VIRTUALLY OBSCURED BY THE SNOW BILLOWING AROUND AND OVER IT AS IT HEADED INTO THE 20 KT WIND. I BELIEVE COMS, PROCS AND STAFFING AT JAC ARE SUBSTANDARD UNDER BAD WX CONDITIONS. HAD OTHER ACR FOLLOWED THE PROPER PDC PROCS WE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN PRESSED FOR TIME. HAD WE NOT BEEN PRESSED FOR TIME, WE MORE LIKELY WOULD HAVE MADE THE CTAF 'STARTING TO TAXI OUT' CALL WHICH WOULD HAVE ALERTED THE PLOW CREW SOONER. HAD THE SPECIAL ARPT PAGES IN MY MANUAL MENTIONED THAT ADVICE ABOUT THE SNOW PLOW STATUS WAS MADE AVAILABLE ON UNICOM, I WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE LIKELY TO TRY TO COMMUNICATE WITH THEM. SNOW PLOWS WERE NOT MENTIONED AT ALL. HOWEVER, WE WERE ALSO PUTTING TOO MUCH FAITH IN AWOS (WHICH DOESN'T MENTION SNOW) AND OUR OPINION OF THE VISIBILITY. WE DID NOT CONSULT FSS. PERHAPS FSS SHOULD BE ON 122.8 ALSO WITH PLOW INFO. I BELIEVE WE DEPEND TOO MUCH ON RADIO COMS AT ARPTS. WE WERE TRYING TO WORK 3 FREQS AT ONCE FOR A WHILE. IT WOULD BE A VERY SIMPLE AND INEXPENSIVE THING TO DO. WHEN ANY PLOW IS ON THE RWY, THE PLOW CREW SHOULD PLACE A HANDHELD ROTATING BEACON ON THE RWY AT THE EDGE NEAR THE TKOF END. THIS COULD BE SOP AT ALL UNCTLED ARPTS WHERE SNOW PLOWS OPERATE. IF SOMETHING ISN'T DONE, THERE WILL BE AN ACCIDENT, ESPECIALLY IF PLTS FROM LARGE AIRLINES ARE GOING TO BE OPERATING INTO A PLACE LIKE JACKSON HOLE!

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.