Narrative:

Upon de-icing on the north pad deicing; the deice truck broke down. We sat there while several other trucks broke down. After an hour +15 min; one of the trucks partially deiced the aircraft only to break down again prior to finishing the right wing. The de-ice crew said we were good to go as they said the frost was gone. I again asked them if the a/C was finished being de-iced in accordance with our deicing procedures and that said it was incomplete. Asymmetric deicing is strictly forbidden according to our fom and deicing procedures. We returned to the gate and queried as to the estimated time of repair of the deicing truck and maintenance had no foreseeable time. The flight was then canceled/delayed because of flight crew limitations. We were in radio contact with the deicing crew when they suggested we circumvent/short-cut established deicing procedures. The deicing crew felt pressured to get aircraft underway and didn't follow established sop. They made an illegal recommendation to the flight crew. We refused their suggestions and did not take-off. Deice crews must follow the established procedures to the letter. There was no gray area in this event! The company should train deicing crews and station managers as to the importance and diligence required to properly deice an aircraft and the captain's responsibility to ensure everything is done right and that the captain's word is final.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air carrier flight crew refused their aircraft when deicing equipment was unable to complete deicing due to ground equipment failure. The Captain expressed his dissatisfaction with attempts by the deice crew to accept the aircraft despite only one side having been serviced.

Narrative: Upon De-icing on the North pad deicing; the deice truck broke down. We sat there while several other trucks broke down. After an hour +15 min; one of the trucks partially deiced the aircraft only to break down again prior to finishing the right wing. The De-ice crew said we were good to go as they said the frost was gone. I again asked them if the A/C was finished being De-iced in accordance with our deicing procedures and that said it was incomplete. Asymmetric deicing is strictly forbidden according to our FOM and deicing procedures. We returned to the gate and queried as to the estimated time of repair of the deicing truck and maintenance had no foreseeable time. The flight was then canceled/delayed because of flight crew limitations. We were in radio contact with the deicing crew when they suggested we circumvent/short-cut established deicing procedures. The deicing crew felt pressured to get aircraft underway and didn't follow established sop. They made an illegal recommendation to the flight crew. We refused their suggestions and did not take-off. Deice crews must follow the established procedures to the letter. There was no gray area in this event! The company should train deicing crews and station managers as to the importance and diligence required to properly deice an aircraft and the captain's responsibility to ensure everything is done right and that the Captain's word is final.

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.