Narrative:

I was working ground control. The local controller called me on the override line and stated; 'animal on the runway; do the whole runway; sweep departure end; arrival end to approach end and departure end.' the local controller; while saying this; was also simultaneously waving their arm; bending at the elbow; gesturing as to; 'now; go; do it.' I understood this and without any hesitation permitted the port authority to proceed on the runway and remove the animal right away. I immediately called the port authority on the direct line; after my attempt to reach them via the frequency failed. They responded and I told the port authority to proceed via taxiway november and sweep the entire runway for the animal. Taxiway november is located midfield. There was a jet aircraft holding short of taxiway november at the time; because their gate was not available. I then turned around and I immediately noticed that the local controller had not colored the runway in red on the radar display. We color the runway in red; as a memory aid; to indicate that it is not available. I asked her a couple of times to put her runway display in red and questioned the controller as to why it hadn't been put it in red. When the controller didn't respond; I asked her bluntly; ' didn't you give me the runway.' the controller said no. I immediately told port authority to exit at the next intersection after taxiway november. Then the local controller said; 'oh! That's why you were asking me about not putting the runway display in red.' there were no aircraft involved; none of the aircraft waiting to depart were given instructions to enter the runway. The port authority was on the runway for just a few seconds. I have two recommendations. My first recommendation is in the misapplication of the language that the local controller was using; and by language I mean the word choice and phraseology that was loosely used. Also; the gesturing of the arm wave; incorrectly conveying what the controller wanted done at that moment. The request by the local controller was not made in the manner that is generally expressed in air traffic. The words and mannerism of the local controller was definitely conveying to me that he/she wanted the port authority to 'do' the sweep; and do it now. The word 'do'; means to 'carry out;' 'take care of;' 'perform;' 'engage in;' 'full fill;' 'go for it.' there was no doubt that I had permission to put the port authority on the runway and to do it right away. The doubt came after I observed that the local controller had yet to put the runway on the radar display in red; indicating that the runway was not available. My second recommendation is that if a runway is open and a vehicle is going to be put on the runway for an inspection; the vehicle should be switched to the tower frequency. The local controller should instruct the vehicle when to inspect the runway. There would be only one controller involved. The local controller would not give up control of an open active runway; reducing the possibilities of a mishap. The vehicle would also be monitoring the frequency being used on the runway that it is inspecting; alerting the vehicle in case an aircraft is cleared onto the runway.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Ground Controller (GC) described a very confused runway sweep operation; listing a number miscommunication between the GC and the Local Controller (LC); suggesting that runway sweep vehicles should be on LC's frequency.

Narrative: I was working Ground Control. The Local Controller called me on the override line and stated; 'Animal on the runway; do the whole runway; sweep departure end; arrival end to approach end and departure end.' The Local Controller; while saying this; was also simultaneously waving their arm; bending at the elbow; gesturing as to; 'NOW; GO; DO IT.' I understood this and without any hesitation permitted the Port Authority to proceed on the runway and remove the animal right away. I immediately called the Port Authority on the direct line; after my attempt to reach them via the frequency failed. They responded and I told the Port Authority to proceed via Taxiway November and sweep the entire runway for the animal. Taxiway November is located midfield. There was a Jet Aircraft holding short of Taxiway November at the time; because their gate was not available. I then turned around and I immediately noticed that the Local Controller had not colored the runway in red on the RADAR display. We color the runway in red; as a memory aid; to indicate that it is not available. I asked her a couple of times to put her runway display in red and questioned the Controller as to why it hadn't been put it in red. When the Controller didn't respond; I asked her bluntly; ' Didn't you give me the Runway.' The Controller said no. I immediately told Port Authority to exit at the next intersection after Taxiway November. Then the Local Controller said; 'Oh! that's why you were asking me about not putting the runway display in red.' There were no aircraft involved; none of the aircraft waiting to depart were given instructions to enter the runway. The Port Authority was on the runway for just a few seconds. I have two recommendations. My first recommendation is in the misapplication of the language that the Local Controller was using; and by language I mean the word choice and phraseology that was loosely used. Also; the gesturing of the arm wave; incorrectly conveying what the Controller wanted done at that moment. The request by the Local Controller was not made in the manner that is generally expressed in air traffic. The words and mannerism of the Local Controller was definitely conveying to me that he/she wanted the Port Authority to 'Do' the sweep; and do it now. The word 'DO'; means to 'carry out;' 'take care of;' 'perform;' 'engage in;' 'full fill;' 'go for it.' There was no doubt that I had permission to put the Port Authority on the runway and to do it right away. The doubt came after I observed that the Local Controller had yet to put the runway on the RADAR display in red; indicating that the runway was not available. My second recommendation is that if a runway is open and a vehicle is going to be put on the runway for an inspection; the vehicle should be switched to the Tower frequency. The Local Controller should instruct the vehicle when to inspect the runway. There would be only one Controller involved. The Local Controller would not give up control of an open active runway; reducing the possibilities of a mishap. The vehicle would also be monitoring the frequency being used on the runway that it is inspecting; alerting the vehicle in case an aircraft is cleared onto the runway.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.