Notam Reported Snow on Runway

In the January 6 incident in which a Gulfstream III landed on a taxiway between the two parallel runways at Denver Centennial Airport, notam 01-17 advised that the parallel runway the jet was switched to land on just 1.5 miles out (Runway 17R) was mostly covered with snow. The taxiway, the same length as Runway 17R, had mostly pavement showing. An FAA inspector erroneously told the NTSB that the airport’s notam did not say that Runway 17R was covered with snow (AIN, February, page 3). The assistant airport director told AIN she was “unsure” why the FAA inspector mistakenly claimed that the notam did not report the runway was covered with snow.