FAA Says No More 'Polished Frost' on Private Jet Wings

Others have been saying that for years.

The National Transportation Safety Board has been asking the FAA since the 1990s to revise its rules on icing conditions and the certification of planes to fly in those conditions.

"We have said in past investigations that wings should be free of ice, frost or snow" said Dan Bower, chief of the NTSB's vehicle performance division. "We recommend pilots get out and feel the wings. There are small imperfections and things you may not be able to see."

A January 2002 crash in Birmingham, England, that killed two business executives and three pilots illustrated the dangers of ice on aircraft. British investigators pointed out that the plane had been flying under the FAA "polished frost" regulation and recommended that the FAA delete all reference to polished frost.

In 2004 and 2005, fatal crashes in Colorado, attributed to ice on the wings, provided impetus for the change.

In the current rulemaking, the FAA studied 11 accidents between 1982 and 2006 involving general aviation and air taxis and found that inadequate de-icing led to fatalities and injuries.

Chris Dancy, spokesman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, said most general aviation aircraft don't have equipment, such as de-icing "boots" on the wings that break up ice in flight.

Most aren't certified to fly in icy conditions. He said many pilots of private planes just wait out the weather or pay for de-icing spray.

The FAA recommends four ways to comply with the proposed rule: Use wing covers made of light fabric that keep off snow and ice, wait for the weather to warm up, park the aircraft in a heated hangar or de-ice the plane.

Public comments on the proposed deletion of the language are due Aug. 6.

Cindy Skrzycki is a regulatory columnist for Bloomberg News. She can be reached at cskrzycki@bloomberg.net.