FAA plans to officially ban aircraft taking off with polished frost on the wings, stabilizers and control surfaces of several classes of aircraft.
The agency defines polished frost as frost buffed to make it smooth, and says the its new rulemaking takes effect on 30 January.
Roughly 57 operators flying 188 aircraft are affected by the rule changes, and FAA says it already prohibits US major and regional air carriers from operating with polished frost.
"The FAA has no data to support practical guidance for determining how to polish frost on a surface to make it acceptably smooth other than completely removing the frost and returning the aircraft's critical lifting surfaces to uncontaminated smoothness," the agency says in its final rulemaking.
The agency also explains there are at least 12 known accidents in which individuals attempted to smooth or polish frost, but the aircraft failed to generate enough lift and crashed shortly after takeoff.
Included in the new rulemaking are four alternatives to removing frost that operators could consider: using wing covers to prevent frost accumulation on wings; waiting for frost to melt; storing the aircraft in a heated hangar; and deicing the wing surface.
FAA also explains that the new rules clarify that affected aircraft must have functioning deicing or anti-icing equipment for flights under Instrument Flight Rules into known or forecast light or moderate icing conditions, or under Visual Flight Rules into known light or moderate icing conditions.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
