Getting Rid Of Airframe Ice

Whether you left the plane out in a storm or picked it up airborne, ice on the airframe can be a challenge to remove.

Thursday, March 14, 2024 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

The King Air pictured at right was able to land with this much ice likely because of its anti-icing capability. But those systems cover the wings, tail surfaces and propellers, among other large components, and don’t remove ice accumulated on the fuselage. Even if the wings and tail were perfectly clean, the added weight and drag will make for lousy handling and increased risk of an approach/landing mishap.

Key Takeaways:

The "clean aircraft concept" mandates that no frost, ice, or snow adheres to an aircraft's critical surfaces before takeoff, as even small amounts significantly degrade performance and increase stall speed.
Ground icing can be removed using methods such as heated hangars, sunlight, mechanical scraping, or specialized de-icing fluids (Types 1-4), each with varying holdover times and application considerations.
For in-flight icing, aircraft utilize anti-icing systems like pneumatic boots or bleed-air, which should be activated early (dispelling the "ice bridging" myth) and require immediate action to exit conditions if overwhelmed.
Safe winter flying demands careful planning, appropriate equipment, and sound aeronautical decision-making to mitigate the inherent risks of icing conditions.

See a mistake? Contact us.

Despite our most valiant efforts, sometimes ice accumulates on our aircraft. This might seem like a showstopper, at least until things thaw out, but options for getting rid of it do exist, depending on the airport and aircraft’s capability.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as the saying goes. We covered the prevention part in February’s article, Anti-Ice Systems, And How To Use Them. This month we’ll discuss the cure—what happens when the ice is already stuck to the plane.