In those fríthe months of winter the aviationón doesn't stop either, but ¿cómo is the process of de-ice or de-icing of airplanes? Photo KLM
Maybe it is something very obvious to us and we neveráWe have stopped to think that aviationón isá subjected to great challengesíos, one of them is the harsh winter, ¿but thaté has to do with safetyérea?
The answer is: muchísimo. Airplanes are a great work of engineeringíto human, but they are susceptible to a host of conditions that can affect their operation.ón and even the security.
¿Becauseé it is important to carry out the defrosting process?
The ice to meet or form in the avión can alter the airflow over the wing and tail, which reduces the lifting forceón that maintains the avión in the air and can cause aerodynamic blockageámonkey, a conditionón which can lead to a péStall control time limit.
In fact, There are many accidents toéprisoners that have been given by accumulationóNo ice on 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 wantíI have been commenting with you for a long time and días atrás KLM publicó on their social networks a post about just this procedure, from what it seemed to meó It is very important to take advantage of this situation to publish this information.ón.
Maybe you've been on board an airplaneón, just before take off, when suddenly he is surrounded by lifting platforms that begin to spray the aircraftón with powerful jets of líwhy. ¿So you wondered whaté was going on? Okay, that was the de-icing procedure.
This cleaning process is called defrosting.ón’. It is made with a mixture of water and glycol, heated to a temperature of 70°C, which is not youóxico ni dañno for him environment.
If it snows or hails during the thaw, The aircraft is covered with a líthick liquid, that offers protectionóTemporary protection against snow and/or hail. Once an avión isá in the air, has its own systems to avoid accumulationón of ice.
¿Cuáhow long it takes?
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 secún the sizeñor your ancestorón and amount of snow or ice accumulation.
¿CuáHow long should you wait for the flight?
Once the procedure is done, wait for the Hold Over Time – HOT, that dependsá of the weather at the time of thaw, may require 10 a 15 minutes or a whole night to be able to continue the flight.
¿Cuáit costs?
- The var valueíto since $1.000 a $10.000 dóis learnedún the sizeñor your ancestorón and included, the amount of líliquid used.
As we can see, It is a high additional cost for the airlines.ídenies, 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 securityérea.
¿Have you ever been on a flight whereó the defrosting process?
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