Narrative:

[There was] poor weather with 1/2 mile visibility and minimal ceilings. The airport was experiencing a mix of rain; sleet and snow. Snow plows had been working all runways for most of the day. When they came back from break we suggested that they do snow removal on runway 03 first since that was the runway that was being used for landing. Because of the weather we did not have the weather minimums to circle to runway 01. Snow lead said they wanted to do runway 01 first for departing aircraft. They proceeded to work runway 01 north and south. We had a C210 land runway 03. After the aircraft landed we proceeded to get pilot reports from the pilot and he mentioned some large snow ridges on the runway. Snow lead was already sitting on runway 01/19; holding short of runway 03; waiting for the C210 to land so they could proceed south and then work their way over to runway 03 for snow removal on that runway. King air was following the C210 inbound and the local controller did not feel like there was time to work the snow plows north on runway 03 before the king air would arrive. King air landed runway 03 and taxied to the FBO. After landing; the pilot called the tower and indicated he hit a snow ridge with ice on landing and bent the propeller on the aircraft. Recommendation; the local controller should have told the pilot and snow lead about the snow ridges reported from the C210. Other tower personnel shouldn't have assumed that the local controller heard the report and should have made sure the local controller was aware of the report about the snow ridges and advised him to pass it along. It might have been suggested to snow lead to try to do a quick plow through the intersection of the two runways before the king air was to arrive even though there wasn't time to do a full runway plow. Snow lead probably should have started plowing runway 03 to begin with since that was the only runway we could use for landing. The plows couldn't keep up with the poor conditions. The C210 didn't make a big deal of the ridges and I believe that the severity of the ridges increased as the snowplows passed back through the intersection after the C210 landed creating a more hazardous situation. As controllers; we need to be more cognizant of the effects of snow ridges and ice in the snow ridges and what it can do to an aircraft. And there needs to be an understanding between the airport authority and the tower that we; as controllers; depend on the airport authority to let us know of unsafe conditions. If they are out there plowing and creating ridge rows they need to be cognizant of the effects of the ridges that they just created.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Tower Controller voiced concern regarding the airport's snow removal efforts during a significant snow event that ultimately led to a propeller strike experienced at a runway intersection by a landing aircraft.

Narrative: [There was] poor weather with 1/2 mile visibility and minimal ceilings. The airport was experiencing a mix of rain; sleet and snow. Snow plows had been working all runways for most of the day. When they came back from break we suggested that they do snow removal on Runway 03 first since that was the runway that was being used for landing. Because of the weather we did not have the weather minimums to circle to Runway 01. Snow Lead said they wanted to do Runway 01 first for departing aircraft. They proceeded to work Runway 01 north and south. We had a C210 land Runway 03. After the aircraft landed we proceeded to get pilot reports from the pilot and he mentioned some large snow ridges on the runway. Snow Lead was already sitting on Runway 01/19; holding short of Runway 03; waiting for the C210 to land so they could proceed south and then work their way over to Runway 03 for snow removal on that runway. King Air was following the C210 inbound and the Local Controller did not feel like there was time to work the snow plows north on Runway 03 before the King Air would arrive. King Air landed Runway 03 and taxied to the FBO. After landing; the pilot called the Tower and indicated he hit a snow ridge with ice on landing and bent the propeller on the aircraft. Recommendation; the Local Controller should have told the pilot and Snow Lead about the snow ridges reported from the C210. Other Tower personnel shouldn't have assumed that the Local Controller heard the report and should have made sure the Local Controller was aware of the report about the snow ridges and advised him to pass it along. It might have been suggested to Snow Lead to try to do a quick plow through the intersection of the two runways before the King Air was to arrive even though there wasn't time to do a full runway plow. Snow Lead probably should have started plowing Runway 03 to begin with since that was the only runway we could use for landing. The plows couldn't keep up with the poor conditions. The C210 didn't make a big deal of the ridges and I believe that the severity of the ridges increased as the snowplows passed back through the intersection after the C210 landed creating a more hazardous situation. As Controllers; we need to be more cognizant of the effects of snow ridges and ice in the snow ridges and what it can do to an aircraft. And there needs to be an understanding between the airport authority and the Tower that we; as Controllers; depend on the airport authority to let us know of unsafe conditions. If they are out there plowing and creating ridge rows they need to be cognizant of the effects of the ridges that they just created.

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.