A certain amount of an airline pilot’s life is given over to marking time on and around airports, and that is doubly true of the junior captain on reserve. I am currently ensconced in the midcentury-modern environs of the TWA Hotel, built around Eero Saarinen’s soaring TWA Flight Center at John F. Kennedy International Airport. I’ve been here going on 36 hours, thanks to a stint of short-call reserve yesterday followed by an assigned trip later today. In the meantime, New York’s first big nor’easter of the season blew in last night and is burying the city under nearly a foot of wet snow.
Snow and the Airline Pilot
Key Takeaways:
- Airline deicing is a critical and complex safety procedure, requiring precise application of specific fluids and careful calculation of holdover times by pilots.
- Pilots are ultimately responsible for ensuring a contamination-free aircraft and must exercise significant judgment to manage dynamic conditions, such as varying precipitation, taxi delays, and expired holdover times, often necessitating additional checks.
- The rigorous nature of airline deicing protocols stands in sharp contrast to the typically less formal or non-existent procedures found in general aviation.
Key takeaways sponsored by Aviator Pro | Start Your Training ->
See a mistake? Contact us.
