Personal Injury Blog

FAA Sets Strict Rules to Prevent Plane crashes in Icy Weather

August 23rd, 2011
Ice in plane wings can be very dangerous.

The new measures will help pilots determine if the ice becomes a safety hazard.

The Federal Aviation Administration has set strict new rules for deicing procedures pilots must follow during icy conditions.  The rules have been formulated after several recent plane crashes in icy weather caused after pilots failed to deal with ice forming on the plane’s wings.

Under the new rules, the Federal Aviation Administration will require the installation of sensors to detect ice on planes that weigh less than 60,000 pounds.  Airlines that own these planes would have to install these sensors.  The sensors will detect ice and warn the pilot.  Another option that airlines have is to tell the pilots to automatically switch on deicing equipment much sooner.

The Federal Aviation Administration has found in recent years that pilots have been too late to turn on deicing equipment, with serious consequences.  On October 3, 1992, an American Eagle Turbo prop plane crashed in Indiana killing fifty people.  Ice had formed on the plane’s wings.  The Federal Aviation Administration soon began an investigation into icing hazards.

The National Transportation System found during its investigation that American regulators had not done enough to deal with the problem of ice forming on the wings, and hazards to planes from such icing.  Los Angeles plane crash lawyers have also linked the crash of a Colgan connection flight near Buffalo, New York in 2009 to icing of the plane wings.  That plane was a Bombardier CRJ100, a plane that weighs less than 60,000 pounds, and would be covered under the new regulations.

In fact, many of these smaller airplanes are used by regional airlines.  Approximately 50% of air traffic today is covered by regional airlines.  These airlines own approximately 2,500 planes, and most of these planes will likely be covered under the new rules.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, its research has shown too many instances where pilots did not realize that ice was forming on the plane’s wings, and did not activate deicing equipment until it was too late.  There do not have to be large blocks of ice on the plane’s wings to interfere with a flight.  Even tiny layers of ice crystals on a plane’s wings can pose a potential safety hazard.

With the new rules, the Federal Aviation Administration intends to encourage airlines to install sensors to warn pilots, or require their pilots to activate deicing equipment much quicker in freezing weather conditions.  The rules are expected to cost airlines $12.7 million to implement.  However, the cost in terms of preventive plane crashes in icy weather would be more extensive.  The Federal Aviation Administration estimates that airlines will save as much as $27.2 million by preventing airline crashes.

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