Narrative:

I was working local control only; VFR weather clear and unlimited visibility with simultaneous visual approaches to 17L/17R. The B737 was holding short of 17L with an esp release time and had been holding short for about 13 minutes. A VFR C172 was on short final for 17L and cleared to land. A F900 was about 5 miles behind the C172 on the 17L final cleared on the visual approach and also cleared to land. Luaw was not available due to tower staffing but because the F900 was at final approach speed I had time to depart the B737 before the falcon's arrival once the cessna was exiting the runway. The cessna was landing long and didn't touch down until he was about 3;000 ft down the runway. The next available taxiway for him was kilo; a high speed angled taxiway. I instructed the cessna to exit kilo; if able; and contact ground. Once I saw the cessna exiting at kilo I cleared the B737 for take off on runway 17L and advised that a falcon was on a 3 mile final. At this point in my take off clearance scan I could see that the cessna was clear of the runway but is stopped just short of the hold short line on taxiway K. I asked ground control to keep him moving and ground advised me that he wasn't responding. Shortly after this; ground and I both realized that the cessna's propeller was not turning and that he was stalled with no power and no radio. The B737 was now lined up on the runway; powered up and rolling. Knowing that I had an aircraft in the safety area but clear of the runway and landing traffic closing on him as well; I made the decision to not abort the B737's take off. I also believed it was best to allow the F900 to land to avoid him and the B737 becoming a conflict in the air. Once the F900 landed we called the TRACON and advised them of the situation and closed 17L for arrivals and put the three aircraft holding short back on ground to taxi to 17R for departure. The cessna was towed across the hold short line and 17L was reopened in less than 10 minutes. I have many years of ATC experience in several different control towers and I believe I made the overall safest decision for this set of circumstances. I believe in this case that aborting an air carrier's take off once they are rolling would be more of a danger than the stalled aircraft on the taxiway. The current rules would want me to abort an air carrier's take off roll and initiate a go around with a falcon on short final for a disabled and stationary cessna on a taxiway but we can legally operate with tractors mowing the grass up to the runways edge. I fully understand and respect why we have runway safety areas but my recommendation would be to allow tower controllers to provide visual separation between two aircraft on the ground the same way we are allowed to provide it to aircraft in the air.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Tower Controller described a loss of separation event between traffic landing failing to clear the runway because of small aircraft engine problems exiting the runway with an Air Carrier on take off roll.

Narrative: I was working Local Control only; VFR weather clear and unlimited visibility with simultaneous Visual Approaches to 17L/17R. The B737 was holding short of 17L with an ESP release time and had been holding short for about 13 minutes. A VFR C172 was on short final for 17L and cleared to land. A F900 was about 5 miles behind the C172 on the 17L final cleared on the Visual Approach and also cleared to land. LUAW was not available due to Tower staffing but because the F900 was at final approach speed I had time to depart the B737 before the Falcon's arrival once the Cessna was exiting the runway. The Cessna was landing long and didn't touch down until he was about 3;000 FT down the runway. The next available taxiway for him was Kilo; a high speed angled taxiway. I instructed the Cessna to exit Kilo; if able; and contact Ground. Once I saw the Cessna exiting at Kilo I cleared the B737 for take off on Runway 17L and advised that a Falcon was on a 3 mile final. At this point in my take off clearance scan I could see that the Cessna was clear of the runway but is stopped just short of the hold short line on Taxiway K. I asked Ground Control to keep him moving and Ground advised me that he wasn't responding. Shortly after this; Ground and I both realized that the Cessna's propeller was not turning and that he was stalled with no power and no radio. The B737 was now lined up on the runway; powered up and rolling. Knowing that I had an aircraft in the safety area but clear of the runway and landing traffic closing on him as well; I made the decision to not abort the B737's take off. I also believed it was best to allow the F900 to land to avoid him and the B737 becoming a conflict in the air. Once the F900 landed we called the TRACON and advised them of the situation and closed 17L for arrivals and put the three aircraft holding short back on Ground to taxi to 17R for departure. The Cessna was towed across the hold short line and 17L was reopened in less than 10 minutes. I have many years of ATC experience in several different Control Towers and I believe I made the overall safest decision for this set of circumstances. I believe in this case that aborting an air carrier's take off once they are rolling would be more of a danger than the stalled aircraft on the taxiway. The current rules would want me to abort an air carrier's take off roll and initiate a go around with a Falcon on short final for a disabled and stationary Cessna on a taxiway but we can legally operate with tractors mowing the grass up to the runways edge. I fully understand and respect why we have runway safety areas but my recommendation would be to allow tower controllers to provide visual separation between two aircraft on the ground the same way we are allowed to provide it to aircraft in the air.

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.