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In those cold months of winter aviation does not stop either, thaw airplanes de-ice winter ice cold storm snow thaw? Photo KLM
Perhaps it is something very obvious to us and we have never stopped to think that aviation is subject to great challenges, one of them is the harsh winter, But what does it have to do with air safety??
The answer is: very much. Airplanes are a great work of human engineering, but they are susceptible to a myriad of conditions that can affect their operation and even the security.
Why is it important to carry out the defrosting process?
The ice meeting or forming in the aircraft can alter the airflow over the wing and tail, which reduces the lift force that keeps the aircraft in the air and can cause aerodynamic stall, a condition that can lead to a temporary loss of control or stall.
In fact, There are many air accidents that have occurred due to the accumulation or presence of ice on the control surfaces, so with this background we can understand the importance of de-icing aircraft before each flight.
The process of de-icing or de-ice in airplanes
This is a topic that I wanted to discuss with you a long time ago and days ago KLM He published a post on his social networks about just this procedure, so it seemed very important to take advantage of this situation to publish this information.
Maybe you've been on a plane, just before take off, when suddenly he is surrounded by lifting platforms that start spraying the plane with powerful jets of liquid. So you wondered what was going on? Okay, that was the de-icing procedure.
That cleaning process is called 'thawing'. It is made with a mixture of water and glycol, heated to a temperature of 70°C, which is not toxic or harmful to the environment.
If it snows or hails during the thaw, the aircraft becomes covered with a thick liquid, offering temporary protection against snow and/or hail. Once a plane is in the air, has its own systems to prevent ice buildup.
how long does it take?
This process is carried out in special areas at the airports where this space exists or at the boarding gate., procedure that can take 3 a 25 minutes depending on the size of the aircraft and the amount of snow or ice accumulated.
How long should you wait for the flight?
Once the procedure is done, wait for the Hold Over Time – HOT, which will depend on the weather at the time of the thaw, may require 10 a 15 minutes or a whole night to be able to continue the flight.
How much?
- The value varies from $1.000 a $10.000 dollars depending on the size of the plane and even, the amount of liquid used.
As we can see, it is an extra high additional cost for the airlines, especially for those operating in the northern hemisphere, although in Latin American airports like Ushuaia or others in the extreme south of the continent, these procedures are also carried out in favor of air safety.
Have you ever been on a flight where the de-icing process was performed?
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The truth is when I saw it for the first time I thought they were washing it hahaha now it makes more sense, this process is very interesting. Good post
Hahaha it is that it does seem that they are washing it.
There was once an episode of mayday in which he talked about an accident that happened in part due to the lack of antifreeze that they had put on a 737. If I remember correctly the accident was in Washington in the 90s.
Exactly and there are some more cases.
Hello there:
lack of antifreeze? I estimate in the fuel or am I wrong ?
on control surfaces