Incident Overview
At 1215 EST, a ground vehicle operator (S-1) reported that braking action was poor on the runways and taxiways. Within the next 9 minutes, five snow plows were cleared onto Taxiways A and E. Shortly thereafter, the pilot of aircraft N58PC was cleared to taxi from the general aviation ramp to Runway 26L, but was not issued information concerning braking action or other traffic.
Sequence of Events
While taxiing on Taxiway A, a snow plow on Taxiway E converged from the pilot's left. The snow plow operator was windrowing already plowed snow, stayed to the left as he entered Taxiway A, and was traveling ahead of N58PC. The pilot of N58PC alerted ground control personnel of the snow plow's position and steered his aircraft to the right. The snow plow operator then started to make a 180-degree right turn on the taxiway, but stopped when he saw the aircraft. The pilot tried to avoid a collision, but his left wing hit the snow plow.
Contributing Factors
The snow plow operator stated that there was a blind area to the right side of his cab which may have attributed to his lack of vision. The tower controller was responsible for both aircraft and vehicular traffic per the letter of agreement.