Narrative:

Our aircraft departed ZZZ1 at XA21 with an intended destination of ZZZ2. The flight was conducted under part 91 IFR and was filed through duats as ZZZ1 direct ZZZ2. Our aircraft was a 2008 C-182 equipped with G1000 avionics which included nexrad data uplink radar. However; this particular skylane is not equipped with deice or anti-ice systems. Approximately 1 hour after departure; we referred to the nexrad radar and made the decision that a direct ZZZ2 flight would not be prudent due to winter weather that was moving through and was traveling in a southeast direction. At this time; we called flight watch to get a current briefing on the weather system. After our briefing; we radioed ARTCC and requested to amend our clearance to ZZZ2 via ZZZ3. This flight path carried us due east; under the south side of the impending weather. Once we neared ZZZ3; the weather system had begun moving into the area. At this point; center requested our flight conditions; which happened to be VMC between 2 overcast layers. We once again referred to our nexrad system; and made the decision to amend our clearance once again to fly ZZZ2 via ZZZ prior to reaching ZZZ3. By our calculations; this would limit our exposure to the impending weather by flying through the area that was showing the least radar activity. Approximately 15 miles south of ZZZ; we encountered IMC at our present altitude of 11;000 ft MSL. This is when our aircraft started to collect light to moderate rime ice. The decision was then made to change altitudes in attempt to evade the icing conditions. Since our performance was limited; we decided to request a cruising altitude of 9;000 ft MSL. Immediately after we initialized our descent; we encountered freezing rain/sld. The airframe as well as the windscreen started to collect ice at a very rapid rate. At this time we alerted center of our situation and requested a descent as well as immediate clearance to ZZZ. Our request was granted and we were cleared to ZZZ no lower than 3;100 ft MSL. Center asked if we wanted to declare an emergency and since our request was granted we decided to forgo declaring an emergency. We initiated an emergency descent flying direct to ZZZ. We were unable to maintain altitude so we ruled out the possibility of flying an instrument approach (at this time we were only 2 miles from ZZZ so we would have to fly away from the airport to fly a published instrument approach). We were still descending toward ZZZ when we keyed the unicom frequency to turn the pilot controlled lighting on high. We overflew the airport and at this time gained sight of runway 15/33. We then turned a modified base to final onto runway 33. Our forward visibility was obscured due to the ice that had formed on the windscreen. On 1/2 miles final; we realized that we had still not lost enough altitude during our emergency descent so we executed a mid altitude go around. The aircraft was unable to effectively climb under full power; so we maintained altitude and joined a right downwind for runway 15. At this time we executed a successful visual approach and landed safely on runway 15. I feel that our encounter with icing conditions was due to several contributing factors which could have easily been avoided. Our preflight preparation was not adequate given the distance of the flight. We should have obtained a complete briefing from FSS as well as obtaining a more thorough briefing from flight watch upon our contact. Another major factor during our flight was our hesitancy to abort the flight prior to reaching ZZZ3 when we realized that weather had moved into our area of flight earlier than anticipated. This was also due to our over-reliance on our nexrad system which gave us the false impression that the weather in the area was not as severe as it actually was. It is my belief that these factors combined attributed to our flight into icing conditions. Supplemental information from acn 819212: we were roughly 15 miles from ZZZ3 when we entered an area of freezing r

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A C182 pilot and instructor on a cross country encountered rime ice after making several route adjustments to avoid the weather. On approach to a diversionary airport; the iced over windshield caused approach difficulties.

Narrative: Our aircraft departed ZZZ1 at XA21 with an intended destination of ZZZ2. The flight was conducted under Part 91 IFR and was filed through DUATS as ZZZ1 direct ZZZ2. Our aircraft was a 2008 C-182 equipped with G1000 avionics which included NEXRAD data uplink radar. However; this particular Skylane is not equipped with deice or anti-ice systems. Approximately 1 hour after departure; we referred to the NEXRAD radar and made the decision that a direct ZZZ2 flight would not be prudent due to winter weather that was moving through and was traveling in a southeast direction. At this time; we called Flight Watch to get a current briefing on the weather system. After our briefing; we radioed ARTCC and requested to amend our clearance to ZZZ2 via ZZZ3. This flight path carried us due east; under the south side of the impending weather. Once we neared ZZZ3; the weather system had begun moving into the area. At this point; Center requested our flight conditions; which happened to be VMC between 2 overcast layers. We once again referred to our NEXRAD system; and made the decision to amend our clearance once again to fly ZZZ2 via ZZZ prior to reaching ZZZ3. By our calculations; this would limit our exposure to the impending weather by flying through the area that was showing the least radar activity. Approximately 15 miles south of ZZZ; we encountered IMC at our present altitude of 11;000 FT MSL. This is when our aircraft started to collect light to moderate rime ice. The decision was then made to change altitudes in attempt to evade the icing conditions. Since our performance was limited; we decided to request a cruising altitude of 9;000 FT MSL. Immediately after we initialized our descent; we encountered freezing rain/SLD. The airframe as well as the windscreen started to collect ice at a very rapid rate. At this time we alerted Center of our situation and requested a descent as well as immediate clearance to ZZZ. Our request was granted and we were cleared to ZZZ no lower than 3;100 FT MSL. Center asked if we wanted to declare an emergency and since our request was granted we decided to forgo declaring an emergency. We initiated an emergency descent flying direct to ZZZ. We were unable to maintain altitude so we ruled out the possibility of flying an instrument approach (at this time we were only 2 miles from ZZZ so we would have to fly away from the airport to fly a published instrument approach). We were still descending toward ZZZ when we keyed the UNICOM frequency to turn the PCL on high. We overflew the airport and at this time gained sight of Runway 15/33. We then turned a modified base to final onto Runway 33. Our forward visibility was obscured due to the ice that had formed on the windscreen. On 1/2 miles final; we realized that we had still not lost enough altitude during our emergency descent so we executed a mid altitude go around. The aircraft was unable to effectively climb under full power; so we maintained altitude and joined a right downwind for Runway 15. At this time we executed a successful visual approach and landed safely on Runway 15. I feel that our encounter with icing conditions was due to several contributing factors which could have easily been avoided. Our preflight preparation was not adequate given the distance of the flight. We should have obtained a complete briefing from FSS as well as obtaining a more thorough briefing from Flight Watch upon our contact. Another major factor during our flight was our hesitancy to abort the flight prior to reaching ZZZ3 when we realized that weather had moved into our area of flight earlier than anticipated. This was also due to our over-reliance on our NEXRAD system which gave us the false impression that the weather in the area was not as severe as it actually was. It is my belief that these factors combined attributed to our flight into icing conditions. Supplemental information from ACN 819212: We were roughly 15 miles from ZZZ3 when we entered an area of freezing r

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.