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:

The pilot, initially overconfident in managing icing, encountered rapid and severe structural ice in a non-ice-protected aircraft, challenging prior assumptions about its formation and severity.
The unexpected icing led to a dramatic loss of aircraft performance, turning a climb into a significant descent rate despite full power, caused by "ice horn" formation on wings and severely distorted propeller blades.
Through critical decision-making, maintaining airspeed, and leveraging local knowledge, the pilot successfully returned to the airport, safely landing the severely compromised aircraft.
This near-catastrophic experience instilled in the pilot a profound understanding of icing's unpredictability and unforgiving nature, leading to a much more conservative approach to flight planning and a focus on human factors in aviation safety.

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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.