Humbling Flight: Structural Ice Can Be Unpredictable and Unforgiving

Close call shows unpredictable and unforgiving nature of in-flight structural phenomenon.

Wednesday, September 03, 2025 at 08:00 AM ET

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A close call with experienced by the author shows unpredictable and unforgiving nature of in-flight structural ice phenomenon. [Illustration: Joel Kimmel]

Key Takeaways:

An initially overconfident pilot experienced a rapid and severe structural icing event in a non-ice-protected aircraft, quickly turning a climb into a steep descent despite full power.
The ice formed unusually, creating an "ice horn" on the wings and reshaping prop blades into "baseball bats," causing extreme drag and thrust loss that severely compromised aircraft performance.
The pilot's skillful emergency management, including critical decision-making under pressure and utilizing local knowledge, enabled a safe landing, fundamentally changing his complacent attitude towards icing and emphasizing its unpredictable, unforgiving nature.

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Having flown many thousands of hours in the clouds of the Northeast, I used to believe that I had all the answers in dealing with structural ice. I admit to being very aggressive, flying into conditions that were likely to produce ice in airplanes with and without ice protection. In my experience, ice usually formed rather slowly and that changing altitude by just a couple thousand feet would take care of any icing problems.

My attitude changed one day in early May 2000 when I took off from Utica, New York, for a flight to Nashua, New Hampshire (KASH), in a Piper Seneca I without ice protection. I was alone in the airplane with no baggage. Even with full fuel, I was well below the maximum allowable gross weight and should have been able to climb very well.