The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Air Safety Institute (ASI) has released a new video in its Beyond Proficient: IFR video series that offers strategies to mitigate airframe icing risks.
“Avoiding and Escaping Icing Conditions reviews preflight considerations to prevent in-flight icing and what to do when encountering icing conditions in flight,” said ASI Senior Director Paul Deres. “A key to icing avoidance is to diligently study current aviation weather observations and aviation weather product forecasts that can alert us to potential icing threats.”
“Structural or airframe icing, the focus of this video, is a major cold-weather hazard, especially for instrument-rated pilots who fly in instrument meteorological conditions. This type of icing causes about five accidents a year with nearly half being fatal,” Deres concluded.
You can see other videos in the Beyond Proficient series here.
So far my in-flight experience has been, when icing happened, I was the only one that knew it, my report let ATC in on it.
Also, every time it’s happened to me, it was within 2 hours or less of an excellent VFR weather briefing.
And when the weather goes down like that, at least in the southwest, you have no idea of which way is the shortest route out, so pick and choose.