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B737 captain reported noticing an improper deice procedure before departure involving an inexperienced 'ice man' and low fluid temperature.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1517743 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201802 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Dawn |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Parked |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine |
| Experience | Flight Crew Total 16083 Flight Crew Type 13850 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
When the deicing truck pulled up to the aircraft I could immediately tell something was wrong as it didn't have the steam coming from the back of the truck that you normally see heating the fluid. When they started spraying the aircraft it was readily apparent the fluid was doing nothing to melt the ice on the nosecone; hence my concern for the rest of the aircraft being properly deiced. I mentioned my concern several times to the truck operator and each time he was telling me the fluid was at the proper temperature (180 degrees) but my response was I don't care what you're seeing; the bottom line it is not melting the ice on the aircraft. After the third time I told him it is not doing the job he finally said to me that 'the temperature of the fluid was dropping and he's having a problem with the burner and they'll have to go and get another truck.' he also stated he was going to bring somebody back out with 'more experience in deicing.' seriously?!seeing how this was being applied early morning when it was dark outside this could've had a catastrophic results if the crew had not paid attention and assumed the ground personnel deice truck and fluid was being properly applied at the correct temperature.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: B737 Captain reported noticing an improper deice procedure before departure involving an inexperienced 'ice man' and low fluid temperature.
Narrative: When the deicing truck pulled up to the aircraft I could immediately tell something was wrong as it didn't have the steam coming from the back of the truck that you normally see heating the fluid. When they started spraying the aircraft it was readily apparent the fluid was doing nothing to melt the ice on the nosecone; hence my concern for the rest of the aircraft being properly deiced. I mentioned my concern several times to the truck operator and each time he was telling me the fluid was at the proper temperature (180 degrees) but my response was I don't care what you're seeing; the bottom line it is not melting the ice on the aircraft. After the third time I told him it is not doing the job he finally said to me that 'the temperature of the fluid was dropping and he's having a problem with the burner and they'll have to go and get another truck.' He also stated he was going to bring somebody back out with 'more experience in deicing.' Seriously?!Seeing how this was being applied early morning when it was dark outside this could've had a catastrophic results if the crew had not paid attention and assumed the ground personnel deice truck and fluid was being properly applied at the correct temperature.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.