On December 15^th, 2003 I departed Memphis, Tennessee in a MD-10 (think DC-10 airframe mated with a MD-11 glass cockpit) bound for MHT (Manchester, NH). This was the First Officer's original trip but, for me, I had "bumped" another Captain (he gets the trip pay for it, I just get my hotel/food paid for), the original owner of the pairing, as I wanted to visit my old Alma Mater and some former college buddies who lived nearby.

Originally the flight was supposed to go from MEM direct to MHT. But, the Northeast had been hammered by its third winter storm, in almost as many weeks, and the dispatcher wanted us to fly to EWR (Newark, NJ) first because of some uncertainty about the condition of the taxiways and runways at Manchester.

Upon our arrival in EWR we were immediately dispatched, as soon as we could unload/load cargo and gas up, to MHT as the field was open and the weather was improving "rapidly". I do not recall the exact weather but, I do recall the ceiling as being around 1600 feet with two miles in "unknown" precip.  In 31 years of aviating I had never heard that one before.  I asked the dispatcher if he could call the tower and make that "unknown precip." known to F/O and me. The winds were from the northwest and fairly light but forecast to gain in strength as the day matured and as a high pressure system replaced an un-welcomed low. Finally, with regards to the weather brief from the dispatcher, he said, "Oh, by the way, there is a forecast for a chance of icing in the MHT area".  "Yeah no kidding" I mumbled to myself as we exchanged happy holidays and good byes.

After an hour of the usual ground stuff we pushed back from the gate. It was exactly 738 am in the morning.  After waiting in the typical EWR morning rush hour traffic we departed for MHT with me flying this leg.

The actual climb, cruise, and initial descent went about as normal as you can get. We were given what I thought was an early descent as we approached the airport from the west, from over New York state and Southern Vermont.  

At 7000 feet we were just skimming the tops of a solid undercast. In fact it was clear from those tops to heaven above and with a glorious  early morning sun shining almost directly in front of us and warming the cockpit, it had been shaping up to be a wonderful day.  The ACARS message from the dispatcher said that the unknown precipitation was ice pellets, however, the latest ATIS, again, had "unknown" as the impediment to its 2 miles visibility.   

In preparation for our descent into the clouds I asked the F/O to turn on the engine and wing anti-icing (the windshield heat goes on at 18000 feet on all arrivals).  In fact, every now and then, as we flew level at 7000, we would fly through an occasional pert cloud, one that was poking its head a bit higher than the otherwise flat ones, and in that brief meteorological foray we would accumulate a bit of ice on the wipers. This "bit" of ice was just a hint of what was to come.

After maintaining 7000 feet for what seemed an eternity Boston Center cleared us down to five thousand feet and turned us over to Manchester Approach Control.  Immediately upon entering the clouds we started picking up ice.  I could see it build up on the wiper blades, which are pretty much at eyeball level. Since we were the first aircraft into MHT that morning, we were the weather ship for all that followed and indeed a Southwest flight was about 25 miles behind us flying a similar route.  I told the F/O to report the icing to the controller.

 I will tell you that I did not, nor do I as I type this, consider myself an expert with regards to the intricacies of airframe and/or meteorological icing. When I flew civilian aircraft, before entering the military, I never ventured into a cloud in anything but the warmest of days or nights. And, while I flew F-16s and F-4s in the USAF, throughout the US, in all kinds of weather and during all four of the seasons, I can't say I can ever recall, save for one time on an aerial refueling mission at FL 210, where airframe icing was ever an issue; as far as I was concerned those fighters were built out of Teflon (the only deicing they had was for the engine intake(s)).  Upon being hired by my airline and going through the usual training, for each successive aircraft as I climbed the seniority ladder, or was pushed up, by new hires from below, I can't say icing was discussed in any depth at all.  My company's MD-11/10 Flight Crew Manuals mention it in cold weather procedures and limitations, as does our Flight Ops Manual, which has an adverse weather section. But, other than discussions with my Dad, when he was alive, about his own "Ernest Gann" story of flying a DC-3 into severe clear icing and making an emergency landing at Syracuse, NY one day in the early fifties, I can't say I have ever really talked to other pilots about icing. And in practice, before this flight, I felt the aircraft I flew were bulletproof.  In my 16 years with my employer, 10 of those, so far, on the MD-11/10, icing had never been a factor...ever.  In my opinion it was a non event...until today.

With that said, I will also tell you, because of my "ignorance" about icing, that, at first blush, I thought it was moderate mixed icing that we were encountering and asked Ben, the F/O, to report it as such.

We were being vectored for the ILS to runway 35.  Approach appreciated the icing report and asked us to repot any changes and also asked for the "spot" winds occasionally.  Since we were number one for the approach, I slowed to 160 knots and dirtied up, slats out, in preparation for a slam dunk onto an abbreviated final.  It didn't happen as quickly as I thought it would.  We were taken down to 3000 feet, where we droned a bit then, simultaneously, we were cleared to 2000 feet, cleared for the approach, and turned onto final.

The MD-10 has six rather large cockpit windows, three on each side. The front four of these six windows are electrically heated with heating coils running between the panes of glass and the last windows- number one and six, on the far left and right sides respectively- are defogged with warm air blowing on them.  In my entire life I have never seen a window, even one that was NOT heated, get any ice accumulation.  Well, I gotta' tell ya'...today, as we were intercepted the localizer the only windows that we could see out of were the two front windscreens.  The other four windows were completely iced over and very opaque; about all they were good for was day/night indicators. Heck, an Airbus A380 could have been about to broadside us and unless it eclipsed the morning's sun, not that we had a lot of that at 2000 feet, we would not have been able to tell.

I won't be proud and say I was not concerned by this...I was secretly converting carbon to diamonds with my sphincter muscle and laying them on my seat. I told the F/O to tell approach, before signing off, that we were in, now, what I thought was heavy icing (In actuality the FAA defines in-flight icing as light, moderate or severe..."heavy" is not a correct icing pirep. I kind'a knew that, but I was not about to break out the pubs at that point and search for the proper phraseology). 

What I have not mentioned, until now, is that, since the time when we turned on the wing anti-ice, we had been getting a continuous "level two" (requires immediate crew attention and subsequent action) master caution alert on the EAD (Emergency Alert Display). The aircraft warning system was telling us that the bleed air from both the number one and number three bleed air systems was not putting out enough hot, engine bleed air for sufficient anti-ice of the wings. However, this had a been a problem since the MD-10's introduction to line ops and a new, like BRAND NEW, procedure in the quick reference emergency procedures said that as long as the bleed air temp was above 110 degrees Celsius, it was 180, and the pressure was above 40 psi, it was about 41 to 42, then we were ok (it was not an either/or proposition, they both had to be above the nominal values).  I would rather have been Chuck Yeager, zooming through clear air enroute to a new supersonic record, than to have been Jack Frost, as I felt I was that day, proving that the Boeing engineers might be right (remember, Boeing bought McDonald Douglas).

Established on the final approach segment with flaps fifty and gear down, yeah I know, you are thinking the less flaps in icing the better, but, I needed the drag of fifty flaps, with the resultant power increase of the engines, to keep the bleed air pressure above forty psi. Anyway...established on final the wipers had picked up a lot of ice, but the front windscreens were still very clear, except for the edges.  Tower was reporting the braking action as fair, with patchy ice and snow, but since we were so light and slow, 135 knots at Vapp, I wasn't worried about stopping; the runway is about 10,000 feel long and the wind was coming from the north. I was worried about airframe ice though, deteriorating the aerodynamic qualities of whatever wasn't deiced, the tail for example, so I did bump up the airspeed five knots. To be honest I had no idea if that was a valid thing to do, but with the reality of winter encasing my aircraft, at the time it seemed a prudent thing to do.

Instead of breaking out  of the clouds at 1600 feet,  down we continued, fully immersed in old man winter's huff and puff, all the while the F/O and I discussing the options if we had to go missed approach. I told the F/O  that if the bleed pressures ever sustained themselves, for even a few seconds, below 40 psi than I was going to hit the go around button and get out of Dodge, er, well the North Pole.; we finally broke out of nature's embrace at 500 feet. The visibility was the reported two miles and I disconnected the autopilot after clearing the cloud and landed manually. The aircraft felt fine as I flared and stopped.

Clearing the runway was a challenge as I could not see too well for the turn off, since the side windows were obscured.  I did mange, however, and taxied to our ramp. 

As I was directed by three mechanics into parking, actually was one working the wands while the other two stood nearby,  they were all giving me that RCA Victor Dog (head tilt) stare as we pulled in to a stop.  That got me wondering.

Upon deplaning I walked around the aircraft.  I owed the Boeing engineers an apology as they were right...wherever the aircraft was deiced there was not a spot of ice, the wing  leading edges were devoid of any ice. But, where no heat was applied there was about 2 to 4 inches of ice accumulation, depending on the surface.  The tail, which had been a big concern of mine, as I thought it could stall if it picked up a load of ice, was fairly clean. This amazed me as I thought since it was not deiced (on the MD-11 it is) that it would have been a magnet for ice, but my concerns were, in retrospect, unfounded. 

Would I do anything different if I was to fly into the same weather?? Really no. Our company's Flight Operations Manual does forbid us to fly in severe icing, but after looking at the aircraft upon block-in, I can't say the aerodynamic qualities of the aircraft seemed compromised in the least. I later heard from dome friends that the weight of the ice upon the aircraft is usually more of a concern than the ice causing an aerodynamic problem (assuming you have deice ability)  Adding five knots for airframe icing, as I was told by another, more experienced Captain, is not a bad idea if landing distance is not a factor, but, he said in his career that he has never worried about airframe icing on the aircraft on approach, just ice on the runway; in an aircraft such as the MD-11/10 he's never seen airframe icing cause an accident on approach and landing, just slick runways. Good thoughts to put into the hip pocket.

Flying is all about risk, what is acceptable risk and what is not. Experience, training, knowledge and intuition all help to make that assessment. As pilots we live in a never ending environment of learning, at least we should feel that way. My dad stopped flying at the age of 75 and with at least 35,000 hours under his belt. He told me, "Son, I was still learning to fly up until I set the brakes on my last on block-in on my last flight".  It is my goal to honor his words with that same attitude.

Next December though, I am telling my buddies to meet me in Florida.

Wx looking good for phptp flight tomorrow it has been about 10 years and I have not been able to fly another aircraft other then a 172 and some smaller aircraft what life would be like if I was able to move on and fly and get on with life....  Wanted to fly with the regional and move to a major. will that day ever be reallized.

This article can be found at http://www.eaa.org/news/2008/2008-09-04_elt.asp

Clarification of ELT Requirements

September 4, 2008 - This week the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) sent out notifications to U.S. aircraft owners regarding upcoming changes in emergency locator transmitter (ELT) services. NOAA reminds owners that as of February 1, 2009, satellite coverage of 121.5 MHz ELTs will end and that only ground-based monitoring will take place. NOAA recommends that aircraft owners transition to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standard digital 406 MHz ELT systems.

This has caused some confusion among aircraft owners, many who presume they are now required to upgrade to the 406 MHz units. This is not the case. There is no requirement in the U.S. at this time to upgrade to the 406 MHz systems. Installing such a unit is solely an option at the discretion of the aircraft owner.

Of course, operating with a 121.5/243 MHz ELT after the deadline presents additional risks to pilots and passengers if a crash occurs, especially in remote areas. Essentially, someone who crashes while flying without a flight plan will depend on someone else to:

• Recognize they are overdue and notify the authorities to initiate a search over an indeterminate area, or;
• Hope someone hears the 121.5/243 MHz ELT on their radio, and calls it in.

Every moment lost after an aircraft crash is a moment closer to a loss of life. While the FAA doesn't mandate the upgrade, it's still an idea worth considering, based on the flying you do.

EAA fought to preserve the rights of aircraft owners to choose which ELT system is best suited for their type of flying. Through education (news articles, NOAA/SARSAT exhibits in the Federal Pavilion during AirVenture, and other efforts), aircraft owners have increased their knowledge and awareness of the differences between the 121.5/243 MHz ELT and the 406MHz ELT, allowing them to make an informed choice on whether or not to upgrade. Simply requiring an upgrade to 406 MHz ELTs as FAA proposed several years ago is too costly a burden to place on recreational/general aviation aircraft owners.

A note to those flying outside the U.S.: While 406 MHz ELTs are not mandatory for operating in the U.S., pilot's who fly internationally - to Canada, Mexico, etc. - after February 1, 2009, will be required to upgrade their ELTs to the new ICAO standard 406 MHz units. EAA is working with Transport Canada to obtain an exemption to this regulation for aircraft transitioning through Canada to Alaska, or flying from the northeastern part of the U.S. to the west where the most direct flight route requires a short transition through Canadian airspace.