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Safety Report

ABSTRACT

Ice and aircrafts are never a good combination. Ice, which can accumulate on any part of the aircraft, is most dangerous when it accumulates on the wings or similar airfoils. These icing encounters cause many fatalities a year, fatalities that could be prevented if pilots use the strategies and tactics in this report to avoid icing dangers. In flight icing is always a concern and should be treated with an expedited response, however, proper avoidance of icing conditions begins on the ground during preflight.
This safety report will discuss the many types of icing and their effects on flight. Along with the effects of icing on an aircraft this report will examine the procedures to follow when reacting to these icing conditions. This report will include accident data as reported by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and more importantly the research and technologies developed to help reduce icing-related aviation accidents. This reports target audience should possess some flying experience and a limited knowledge of general aviation aircrafts.

Icing is a definite weather hazard to aircraft. Icing refers to any deposit or coating of ice on an aircraft. Two types of icing are critical in the operation of aircraft: induction icing and structural icing. Another important form of structural icing may affect the runway or other resources used by aircraft. A runway covered with even a thin film of ice can cause loss of directional control and make braking efforts completely ineffective while the craft is on the ground (Roy, Steuernagle, Wright, 2008). In flight, including the takeoff, the threat of ice hazard is increased.
Common sense tells us that wintertime brings on icing conditions, however, ice is present, or potentially present, somewhere in the atmosphere at all times, no matter what the season. The secret is the altitude of the freezing level, which may be around 15,000 feet during the summer and perhaps as low as 1,000 feet above...