WEATHER ACCIDENTS #10

This is our tenth weather-accident article in a series we started in 2015. Our intent is to examine some of the ways that seasoned pilots manage to get into deadly predicaments. Safety procedures are well-covered in training materials, your aircraft manual, and FAA publications, so we prefer to teach the aviation meteorology of these situations. Our goal is to give you a rich background to help you to make good decisions when things go wrong.

Key Takeaways:

• A seasoned pilot fatally crashed shortly after takeoff, encountering severe clear icing at low altitudes due to rapidly deteriorating weather conditions associated with a strong cold front and "wet bulbing" effect.
• The accident highlighted limitations in the official weather briefing, which failed to accurately convey the dynamic and severe icing threat near the surface, partly due to the rapidly evolving conditions and the briefer's available tools.
• The article emphasizes that pilots must develop a proactive and comprehensive understanding of weather, going beyond routine briefings by utilizing various products (METARs, TAFs, radar, soundings) to identify anomalies and make safe flight decisions, especially in fast-changing atmospheric conditions.

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