Aircraft Icing

Abstract

Aircraft icing is a common and major hazard to the aviation industry. Depending on conditions, icing may have very little or major impact to aircraft performance. The types of icing that form on and affect aircraft, the variables in how each type of icing is formed and the categories of severity will be discussed. Numerous methods of prevention and treatment exist and all pilots should be well versed in flight rules and regulations concerning avoidance and response to icing situations.

Aircraft Icing

Aircraft icing is nothing but trouble and a significant hazard to the aviation community. With the right upper level conditions, our winter season allows icing to occur when least expected and most pilots know very little about where icing will actually occur. With a small bit of meteorology related education, most can learn where ice may be waiting for them and how it can be avoided. Key items of merit would be where fronts were, where they were moving, the location of cloud tops/bases and what alternate routes are available. When flying, one should also be aware of several key locations in the United States: around mountains, the Great Lakes or other large bodies of water. And, if you don’t need to fly through a cloud, don’t do it. Although hazardous to all aircraft, each craft is either approved or not approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for icy flight conditions. It is primarily the smaller and lighter aircraft that are not equipped with extensive forms of anti-icing protection and these are the ones most affected and legally banned from flight into known icing conditions (Landsberg, 2008).

Icing is normally encountered in when the temperatures range between 14 to 32 degrees Fahrenheit...

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... have devastating effects on the aircraft structures ability to create lift. No lift equals no flight. Once iced and beyond pilot control, an aircraft is pretty much a useless, ground-bound vehicle that one can only hope will land smoother than a rock falling from the sky. Pilot training is an essential key as the landing draws closer. It is during this time that conditions and the effects of icing can have the most impact. Proper training can be the huge difference between life or death. (Landsberg, 2008).

References

Landsberg, Bruce (2008). Aircraft Icing, Safety Advisor Weather No. 1. Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Air Safety Foundation. Retrieved December 04, 2009 from the AOPA Online Web site: http://www.aopa.org/asf/publications/

Ahrens, C. Donald (2009). Meteorology Today (9th ed.), 181-183. Canada: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.