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:

A pilot with extensive experience in icing conditions became complacent, believing he understood how to manage ice effectively.
He unexpectedly encountered rapid and severe structural icing (forming "ice horns" on wings and "baseball bat" shapes on props) in a non-ice-protected aircraft, leading to a critical loss of climb performance and an uncontrollable descent.
Despite the extreme conditions, the pilot managed to execute an emergency return and landing by relying on local knowledge and maintaining critical airspeed, narrowly avoiding a gear-up landing.
This near-catastrophic event served as a profound lesson against complacency, demonstrating the unpredictable and unforgiving nature of structural icing, and reshaped his focus on aviation safety and human factors.

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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.