Light Transport; Low Wing; 2 Turbojet Eng
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (mon) 3
Communication Breakdown; Confusion; Distraction; Situational Awareness
ATC Issue All Types; Conflict Airborne Conflict; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Air Traffic Control Separated Traffic
ATC Equipment / Nav Facility / Buildings; Airport; Procedure; Human Factors
I was working the Ground Control position when the Local Controller indicated he needed to use the restroom urgently; and that it couldn't wait the 10-15 minutes before someone was due back from break; or the 5 minutes it would take for them to return to the Tower since they were likely on the ground floor. He gave an abbreviated unrecorded briefing before heading down the stairs; telling me that a [an aircraft] was on departure roll on Runway 5R; [Airport Vehicle] was finishing an inspection of [Runway] 5L; and he had approved a Runway 32 arrival (this in common when on a 5L/R configuration). I plugged in a handset to work Local on speaker and kept Ground in my ear with a headset. [Airport Vehicle] reported off of Runway 5L; so I cleared the next 2 departures for takeoff; runway heading on the left; heading 070 on the right. [Airport Vehicle] then requested to take [Taxiway] A to Runway 14 for inspection; and I cleared him onto Runway 14. When the Runway 32 arrival checked in a minute or so later I cleared him to land; issued wake turbulence for the jets departing 5L and 5R and advised the aircraft of traffic landing Runway 5R at the same time as him. Arrival traffic checked in to land Runway 5R; I issued the traffic on Runway 32 with a clearance to land; and then responded to the aircraft calling to taxi from the gate. About a minute or two later; the Local Controller came back up the stairs and asked what he had missed. I told him about the landing aircraft. Maybe 15 seconds later I was at the Ground podium and he asked to verify that Runway 32 was his control; which is our 'failsafe' procedure when an aircraft is about 1 minute from the unadvertised runway. That's when I saw my runway unavailable memory aid which; in the haste of relieving him; I hadn't brought with me and told him 'No; go-around. Go the f* around vehicle on the runway' and told [the Airport Vehicle] to 'vacate the runway immediately.' The go-around was accomplished with Aircraft X just over a mile final; he circled and landed without incident on Runway 5L. [Airport Vehicle] vacated the runway with time to spare and announced he had found and been retrieving a large chunk of concrete on the runway.One thing that has bothered me for a while here is that we don't have a definitive memory air for our runway statuses; instead they tell a story. Both Ground and Local have a set of colored strip holders with red and green sides. Whomever has control of a runway displays green; and the other position displays red indicating a lack of control. When an airport vehicle is occupying a runway; it is common for Local and Ground to both display red for the same runway; since red can mean 'unavailable' or 'closed' as well; but there is no specific memory aid for a vehicle on the runway. Had there been a specific memory aid stating 'vehicle on runway' perhaps that would have jumped out at me. Additionally; Runway 14/32 is about 1.5 miles from the Control Tower. At that distance it is difficult to discern whether a vehicle is on the runway or one of the parallel taxiways; much less to see it at all! I know our facility whines about another facility being given our ASDE-X several years ago; but our configuration presents a visibility challenge. It is very difficult to keep track of inbound and outbound pushes in the middle of the night when the weather is clear; much less when it is snowing; foggy; or the ceiling is at or below 300 FT (the Tower is in the clouds). Also our FBOs are located at the far end of the field. A small aircraft is just as hard to see at a distance as a jet!
Ground Controller reports while working position combined with local; he forgets to use placard showing closed runway; causing vehicle on runway to exit quickly and aircraft to go-around.