Aircraft Icing Handbook
**** Hidden Message ***** FOREWORDStrange as it may seem, a very light coating of snow or ice, light enough to be hardly
visible, will have a tremendous effect on reducing the performance of a modem
aeroplane. These words are as true today as they were 58 years ago when Flight Safety
Foundation (FSF) founder Jerome Jerry F. Lederer said them during a lecture on aviation
safety. And despite new technology, training and procedures developed since then to
address the problem, accidents related to icing conditions continue to occur. This
Handbook brings together a variety of major informational and regulatory documents
issued by international authorities on the subject of icing-related accident prevention.
In the past 50 years, ice has played a role in numerous accidents that have killed crews and
passengers and destroyed aircraft. No phase of operations is immune to the threat. Recent
U.S. and New Zealand examples of icing encounters with fatal consequences include the
following:
(a) New Zealand Cessna Caravan crashed off the coast of the New Zealand South
Island in November 1987 killing both occupants. The pilot had reported icing.
(b) A commuter flight impacted terrain during landing in December 1989, in Pasco,
Washington, U.S., killing both crewmembers and all four passengers. The aircraft
had been in icing conditions for about 10 minutes on approach.
(c) An air transport stalled on takeoff in March 1992
killing two crew members and 25 passengers; 24
been de-iced twice before leaving the gate.
in Flushing, New York, U.S.,
persons survived. The aircraft had
(d) A commuter flight went out of control in icing conditions and dived into a soybean
field en route to Chicago, Illinois, U.S., in October 1994. killing all 68 aboard.
(e) June 1997 Beechcraft BE 58 Baron crashed in the North Island of New Zealand
killing the sole occupant the pilot. The aircraft was operating in a forecast icing
environment.
Icing-related accidents have captured the aviation industry s attention, and it is now widely
understood that the problem is international, not just regional. Even the national air carriers
of countries with balmy tropical climates are likely to fly to and from latitudes that can be
gripped by icy conditions.
This CAA Icing Handbook published at the onset of the icing season in New Zealand
displays the international scope of efforts to guard against icing-related accidents. The
book would not have been possible without the labours of the organisations whose work i
included here. And they are by no means the only contributors to progress in de-icing and
anti icing. Numerous other organisations and individuals too many to recognise here
without unfairly omitting some names have played their valuable part. As several
documents adapted in this Handbook attest, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) has undertaken major efforts in icing-related research and regulatory updates. The
lengthy list of regulatory and advisory documents beginning on page 201 of the Flight
Safety Foundation, Safety Digest Protection Against Icing: A Comprehensive OvervieU
dated June一September 1997 most of which were published by the FAA, shows the breadtl
of icing-accident preventive measures.
The contents of this Handbook speak compellingly of the need for continuing research an
development of technological safeguards for ground operations and flight in icing
conditions. But improved equipment, and even improved operating procedures, do not in
themselves guarantee safety. They must be applied with understanding. Pilots, air traffic
controllers, ground crews and dispatchers must be fully knowledgeable about the effects(
icing.
This Handbook, developed mainly from the Flight Safety Digest is dedicated to helping
educate all personnel associated with flight operations in icing conditions. This is not the
last word on the subject; nothing could be, because research and experience create new
issues and insights. As a whole, this Handbook offers a sobering reminder that in this
aspect of aviation, there can be no such thing as too much vigilance.
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