Page 18 - December 2019

airplane’s wings with a special, heated anti-freeze
mixture.
Related: How Airplanes Stay in the Air

After a wing is clear of accumulation, it can be
sprayed with another anti-freeze product designed
to sheer off at take-off — and in the skies, jet wings
are heated with bleed air from the engines.

At that point, Laskin noted, snow won’t accumulate
because of the speed.
How Cold It Would Have to Be to Keep
Your Plane From Flying While small planes, like private jets, may not be
equipped to deal with extreme icing conditions,
BY MELANIE LIEBERMAN
commercial jets can typically fly fast enough to avoid
The cold isn't why your flight is cancelled.
build-up during flight. Certain aircraft may also be
With much of the country in the midst of a deep freeze, outfitted with anti-icing features like heated leading
travelers may be wondering how cold it has to be for the edges on the wings and pores that secrete glycol.
severe weather to foil upcoming travel plans. But it isn't
Of course, cold and wet winter weather can still lead
the cold that's a problem for most aircraft.
to flight delays and cancellations.
After all, commercial airplanes can cruise at an altitude Even though airplanes can fly just fine when they're
of nearly 40,000 feet, where temperatures hover around
properly deiced, that process can take some time
-70 degrees Fahrenheit.
(sometimes an hour or more, depending on the size
Jet fuel freezes at around -40 degrees Fahrenheit, but it of the aircraft and rate of accumulation). And severe
will work just fine as long as it’s kept above that weather can also impact a number of other critical
temperature on the ground. Once the plane is moving, factors at the airport, like tarmac conditions and air
the fuel is heated as it passes through the engine — and traffic control visibility.
crew members carefully monitor fuel temperatures
As Winter Storm Grayson brings blizzard conditions
during flight.
across the Northeast, more than 3,000 flights have
Related: What Should I Do if My Flight is Canceled Due already been cancelled. As the Chicago
to Weather? Tribune reported, severe weather can keep ground
crew, like baggage handlers and ramp workers, from
In fact, airplanes are more efficient in low temperatures,
as cold air is denser than warm air. That typically means spending more than 15 minutes at a time outside,
and the equipment used to pump jet fuel can freeze,
shorter, faster takeoffs and better performance. There is
leading to delays in refueling aircraft.
one major challenge with cold weather, however, and
that's the accompanying ice and snow.
“If ice or snow builds [on] critical surfaces, it will change
the pattern of airflow over those surfaces,” Seth Laskin,
a former aircraft deicer at Philadelphia International
Airport, told Travel
“Wings, for instance,” Laskin said, “are very specific
shapes — and even a little bit of frost can decrease the
efficiency of the wing, leading to longer takeoff rolls and
a higher stall speed.”
That’s why airplanes must be carefully cleaned and
protected during inclement winter weather. In the event
of a snowstorm, for example, deicers can treat an