Clearing Flags

Its certainly legal to fly through the AIRMET. These are advisories covering large areas. But it behooves you to determine that your flight plan wont enter known or forecast light or moderate icing conditions as prohibited in 91.527. Here goes. Theres a stationary front just west of the route, bringing in cloud layers and scattered showers. Freezing levels will hit between 7000 and 12,000 feet. So, at 8000 feet, you do risk picking up ice. One lone pilot report from a single-engine turbine over Iowa shows negative ice in climb from 3000 to the tops at 11,000. This isnt all that useful since youre flying lower and slower, but you are willing to climb as high as 12,000 feet to be on top. Your Plan B, while not at all mission-friendly, is to turn back to warmer air and land in Iowa, or even return to Bowling Green if thats best.

Elaine Kauh

Tuesday, October 01, 2019 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Comprehensive preflight planning (FAR 91.103) is essential, requiring pilots to check all available information, including AIRMETs for icing and NOTAMs for navigation, not just basic weather.
Compliance with icing regulations (FAR 91.527) is non-negotiable, prohibiting flight with any frost or ice on critical surfaces or into known/forecast icing conditions without proper equipment, emphasizing that safety and legality are intertwined.
Pilots must be ready to adapt to unexpected situations—like sudden frost on wings or out-of-service navigation aids—by having contingency plans, making timely decisions to delay, divert, or cancel, and reporting conditions when encountered.

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Here’s a scenario familiar to many: You’re preparing for an early flight on a crisp morning. The autumn sun’s coming up as you look forward to that smooth ride and a million miles of vis. Then, like a magical but unwelcome specter out of thin air, a coat of frost appears on the wings. Is this a “So what?” or “Argh! Now what?” situation?

It’s the latter, if you’re aware of the legalities. In the end, it’s down to prevention, mitigation, and one of three outcomes: go, delay or no-go. This chain of decisions can happen repeatedly for a variety of situations that can arise both before and after you fire up.