AT AN UNCTLED ARPT; AN ACR GETS STUCK IN THE MUD AND IS ENCROACHING ON THE RWY. ANOTHER ACR ELECTS TO BACK TAXI. THEY COORDINATE WITH THE STUCK ACFT CREW AND DEPART.

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ON TAXI OUT TO RWY 20 AT COU; TWR CLOSED; FIELD UNCTLED; DC9 AHEAD OF US GOT STUCK IN SNOW WHILST TAXIING ONTO RWY 20 FOR DEP. WE TAXIED ONTO RWY 20 AND BACK-TAXIED TO THE END TO SEE IF WE COULD DEPART. ASKED THE DC9 IF IT WAS OK TO DEPART; AS WE HAD FULL LENGTH. THEY SAID FINE; AND WE DEPARTED. LATER LEARNED THE DC9 WAS STUCK ALL DAY AND ARPT CLOSED. MY CONCERN WAS WE HAD DEPARTED WITHOUT A TKOF ALTERNATE; BECAUSE WE COULD NOT HAVE RETURNED TO THE ARPT WITH THE DC9 STILL STUCK. DID I NEED AN ALTERNATE? EVEN THOUGH AT THE TIME I THOUGHT THE DC9 WOULD HAVE LEFT SHORTLY AFTER US! CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR IN THE DEPARTING ACFT HAS HAD SECOND THOUGHTS ABOUT HIS ACTION AND CAN SEE THAT HE DID NOT PERFORM IN THE SAFEST WAY POSSIBLE. IN AFTERTHOUGHT HE SAID HE SHOULD HAVE JUST DONE AN INTXN TKOF FOR WHICH HIS PERFORMANCE WAS ADEQUATE. HE ALSO HAS CONCLUDED THAT HE SHOULD HAVE FILED A TKOF ALTERNATE SINCE AN APCH TO AN OCCUPIED RWY WOULD PRECLUDE A RETURN TO LAND. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 499494: ON THE ARPT SURFACE AT COU; MO; I WAS TAXIING FOR DEP. USED TXWY A TO RWY 13/31. TURNED R ON RWY 13/31 AND RECEIVED RELEASE FROM MISSOURI ARR/DEP CTLR TO DEPART ON RWY 20. WHILE TAXIING ONTO RWY 20 FROM RWY 13/31 THE L MAIN TIRES BECAME STUCK IN THE MUD AT THE INTXN OF THE 2 RWYS (RWY 13/31 AND RWY 2/20). SNOW OBSCURED THE RWY EDGES.