A Frontier Airlines flight attendant may have saved the day on a recent Las Vegas bound flight from Nashville. In a truly remarkable story, a quick-thinking flight attendant noticed there was still significant ice and snow build-up on the wings after the de-icing procedures. The FA may have saved the plane and its passengers from catastrophe.
If you’ve ever flown out of a wintery airport the stop at the de-icing station is a common practice. Ice build-up on the wings of a plane (among other areas) can result in a dangerous situation for the plane and pilots that can result in potentially catastrophic consequences.
Readers may recall Continental Flight 3407 to Buffalo which ultimately crashed leading to the deaths of all crew and passengers. Icy conditions played a significant role in the crash. The video below helps illustrate the importance of dealing with ice both on the ground and in the air.
As was first reported on Twitter by @xJonNYC, and subsequently by other news outlets and bloggers, the Frontier Airlines flight had completed its de-icing procedures. However, it appears they were nowhere close to success. In fact, it was more than a foot of snow and ice on some parts of the plane.
After alerting the captain, it was confirmed that the de-icing procedures were, in fact, unsuccessful, and the flight returned for further de-icing. Frontier Airlines has acknowledged the February 18th incident, releasing the following statement:
“We can confirm this incident did occur. Safety is our foremost priority and we are very proud of our flight crew for identifying the issue and ensuring the matter was addressed before takeoff. We are no longer using the deicing company in question.”
Clearly, the contractor in question failed to perform their duties here and had it not been for the quick thinking Flight Attendant the news about this incident could have been far worse.
Let’s hope they thank the Flight Attendant in question who had the wherewithal to look, and the guts to say something. Hero mode was definitely activated!
h/t to One Mile at a Time and View from the Wing
You may be interested in this video which further discusses airline de-icing:
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5 comments
I thought flight captain/pilot would have made damn sure that deicing service was complete and effective…we can not rely on those who are in charge of our safety…air travel is not safe if pilots don’t do their job…what the hell was the pilot doing…another example that you can’t depend on people doing their jobs…everyone must be double checked
That’s what I was thinking too. Not to mention the idiot ground crew WHO IS RIGHT THERE SPRAYING THE DEICING CHEMICAL-they CANT SEE ITS NOT WORKING?!?
Next time gotta use a hair dryer it solves
The issue in minutes
I can’t imagine the pilots not doing a visual inspection after the de-icing was completed. Thank goodness for a alert flight attendant. It seems like that would be standard operating procedure.
After the pilot does his walk around outside before boarding, he has a lot to do in the cockpit before he can take off. He should have been able to depend on the company doing the deicing being careful to do it right. Unfortunately, the people on the ground don’t always realize or care how very important and critical their job is. Sadly, it’s true. Employers need to instill this in their employees so we can all be safe when we fly. The pilot can’t see the wings or the engines on some planes. They depend on instruments and the engineer for a lot. They go through a checklist before every take off. So please put the blame where it belongs.