B737-300 WAS ALMOST HIT BY AN ARPT GND EQUIP SNOW REMOVAL TRUCK AT DTW.
Synopsis
B737-300 WAS ALMOST HIT BY AN ARPT GND EQUIP SNOW REMOVAL TRUCK AT DTW.
Narrative
AFTER LNDG ON RWY 21L; WE WERE TOLD TO FOLLOW THE ACR ON TXWY T AND TXWY K AND HOLD SHORT OF CLOSED RWY 9L. THIS IS A VERY LONG RTE AROUND THE NEW TERMINAL CONSTRUCTION. APCHING TXWY K; WE OBSERVED SEVERAL LARGE SNOW SCRAPER/BLOWERS WORKING NEAR THE AREA OF CLOSED RWY 21R AND TXWY Y. THEY WERE MOVING RAPIDLY AND IN A VERY IRREGULAR PATTERN; HITTING THE AREAS OF SNOW ON THE TXWYS. OUR TXWYS WERE CLR ON THE CTRLINE WITH A BAND OF SNOW ON THE R EDGE. NO SNOW WAS FALLING AND THE VISIBILITY WAS GOOD. WE WERE 1/4 MI BEHIND THE ACR AND 1/4 MI IN FRONT OF A COMPANY FLT THAT WITNESSED THE EVENT. AS WE APCHED TXWY K4; A SMALLER SNOW BLOWER WHO WAS WORKING ON TXWY Y MADE A TURN ONTO TXWY K4 AND WITHOUT STOPPING OR SLOWING DOWN CAME DIRECTLY AT US AT A HIGH RATE OF SPD AND OBLIVIOUS TO OUR MOVEMENT ON THE ACTIVE TXWY. MY FO YELLED 'I DON'T THINK HE IS GOING TO STOP' -- AND HE DID NOT. I TOOK EVASIVE ACTION TO THE R AND SLAMMED ON THE BRAKES. WE DID NOT DEPART THE TXWY; BUT GOT NEAR THE EDGE INTO THE SNOW. LUCKILY; THE VEHICLE WAS SMALL ENOUGH TO GO UNDER THE WINGTIP WITHOUT COLLIDING WITH US. WITHOUT OUR ACTION; WE BELIEVE HE WOULD HAVE IMPACTED US BTWN THE NOSE GEAR AND #1 ENG. AT THE GATE; I CALLED THE ARPT MGR WHO STARTED AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE EVENT. LOOKING BACK; I DO REMEMBER SEEING AN SUV TYPE TRUCK WITH THE SNOW PLOWS; BUT HE WAS DEFINITELY NOT IN CTL OF HIS EQUIP. DTW IS BY FAR THE MOST DANGEROUS ARPT FOR TAXI AND COMPLICATED INSTRUCTIONS IN OUR SYS.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.