Commercial Fixed Wing
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 75; Flight Crew Total 9300; Flight Crew Type 2300
Communication Breakdown
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Flight Crew Returned To Gate
Airport; Weather
The first leg of the trip was a position leg with no passengers from LOT This trip was delayed due to weather and conditions. Original departure time was scheduled for [early morning]. I was the PIC/Captain for this trip and the copilot was [name]. I spoke with the Airport Manager on the phone and was told the runway was in good shape and we would be able to get out. I had already planned a delayed departure due to conditions at LOT and [arrival airport]. When I spoke initially to the Airport Manager of LOT; he stated it was currently snowing hard so the later we departed the better. Upon arrival at the airport; I was delayed because I could not get into the hangar. Then; we had some back and forth to the far community hangar where the aircraft was located. I told line services we were ready to go. At about this time; there was no precipitation and the snow had stopped or was very light with no further accumulation for some time. They had to move another aircraft that was parked in front of us in the hangar. We were pulled and started engines. During this time; I noticed the runway which we were going to use; 02; was not being worked on. Runway 9-27 was where the plowing equipment was being used. I figured this was because Runway 02 was in good condition. I was told by line service the runway was bad earlier but it's good now. After starting engines; [copilot] was Pilot Flying in the left seat; and I was sitting right seat [as] Pilot Monitoring. I told [the copilot] I would call right away for clearance; which I did. I used my phone and the blue-tooth function over my headset. Copilot acknowledged and completed the normal checks and started his taxi. On the taxi out from the ramp to Runway 02; the taxi ways and ramp had poor breaking to nil. Copilot took the taxi very slow and remained cautious. We taxied out of the ramp on Taxiway. I suggested we enter the runway and back-taxi to check the runway conditions. Just about that time; ATC informed us that [destination] airport was closing for runway cleaning and we would have to call back in 20 minutes. I motioned to copilot and said continue taxiing to the end of the runway; at which time he did. I then; after being off the phone; filled copilot in on the details and told him I would also call our office and update them on the further delay. We then taxied to the approach end of Runway 02 on [the taxiway] and completed our pre-takeoff checks. Then; I asked copilot about thoughts of taxiing onto the runway to check conditions as we could clearly see it seemed ice covered. We taxied onto the runway and confirmed breaking action was nil. We could not use or take off with present conditions. During this time; a King air inbound called UNICOM and said they were 10 min out and requested runway conditions for Runway 02. The UNICOM came back with runway conditions; 'are good.' I then immediately called the inbound traffic and informed them of our experience and stated the breaking action as nil. The King Air stated; they would circle the airport until they received an update. I called UNICOM and told them how conditions actually were and that we could not take off; I queried about using a de-icing chemical and if that was in the plans. After a short delay they said; 'we are getting the truck with chemical and would de-ice the runway.' At that time; we decided to taxi back to the ramp and shut down. After shutdown; we went inside and called our company office with the information and further delay. At this time; I spoke with a line employee and told him it was of my opinion he not advise aircraft of runway conditions. I told him it should not be his responsibility unless specifically directed to do so by the Airport Manager or his Supervisor. After about 30-45 minutes and chemical applied to the runway; the airport was conducting breaking test using their equipment and reported breaking numbers were now above 45. After that report and UNICOM maintaining or answering the continued questioning from the King Air; the King Air landed and stated the breaking action was good. At this time; the Line Manager came in the building; he was then one who conducted the breaking tests; he stated when we were leaving initially he had done tests with breaking numbers below 15. I was astonished when he said this; and I wondered why nothing was said while we were preparing to leave initially. We then left; got back in the aircraft and started back up. We were then able to depart with no issues and continued on with the trip. The Airport Manager was on the field throughout this whole event. I never talked with him regarding the situation afterwards; however; it is my opinion this situation is not the first of its kind. There were no real-time NOTAMs issued. The Airport Operations had men and equipment on both runways throughout the morning; with again; no closures or NOTAMs; and throughout the process; we were led to believe that Runway 02 was good. I feel an accident or multiple incidents were avoided with very small margins and just some plain old luck with timing.
Flight crew attempted departing; but found breaking action nil on runway during taxi out. They returned to FBO and waited for runway to be treated and conditions to improve prior to departing.