Winter Operations
Commerical airplanes operate in extreme winter conditions, and are generally approved for flight in to known icing conditions.
Safely operating in such conditions requires a combination of removing, and preventing accumulation of ice, frost and snow from the airplane.
On the ground, prior to taxi, the crew can have existing ice, frost and snow removed by having de-icing fluid sprayed on to the airplane, the airplane can also be anti-iced to prevent accumulations.
The fuild used for de-icing is called Type 1.
The spraying is peformed by qualified de-icers, either from a truck containing the fluid, or units installed at de-icing pads.
The trucks sometimes have a driver, or are driven by the de-icer ('ice man') from the basket.
Depending on the airport, the de-icing will either be done at the gate, after pushing from the gate, or at a designated area of the airport called a 'de-icing pad'.
The fluid runoff makes the ground slippy, and care should be taken on a surface with this fluid on it.
Larger airports who use pads, may have more than one area on the airport, these areas are marked on the airport diagram.
The crew usually radio the de-icer and provide some notice ahead of time of their intention to de-ice.
Once the spraying is completed, the ground crew inspect the airplane and report to the Captain that the airplane is clear of contamination.
Airplanes have heating elements inside probes, and on jet airplanes once the engines are started, hot bleed air can be routed from the engines to the engine cowls, and during takeoff and inflight the wing leading edge can also be heated using air. Using this air can have an effect on performance, so is not used when not needed.
Airplane systems vary by type, and instead of using engine air smaller airplanes may have inflatable 'boots' on the wing instead.
