A malfunctioning engine anti-ice system required the commuter crew to communicate with dispatch and ...

Narrative:

I was the flying pilot. During our climbout the conditions required the use of the wing and cowl anti-ice systems. Climbing through 5;000 ft we exited icing conditions and anti-ice was turned off. Shortly after leveling off at 10;000 ft we received a left cowl a/ice caution message. The captain completed the appropriate QRH procedure which required us to avoid further encounters with icing conditions. At this point he began attempting to contact dispatch through company radio but; after several minutes of trying on various frequencies there was no response.it appeared to us that IFR conditions persisted over most of the midwest. Our destination ATIS reported overcast skies at 2;700 ft MSL and runway conditions were NOTAM'ed as patchy thin snow on the runway. All of the surrounding airports reported similar conditions. With 4;900 pounds of fuel remaining and unable to communicate with company per regulations we elected to continue to our destination. We knew the tops were roughly at 5;000 and the bottoms were reported at 2;700 MSL. We planned to make an expedited descent through the cloud layer down to 2;400 MSL; the initial altitude for the ILS to the runway. This was coordinated and approved by ATC.the captain did an excellent job in making sure we were not rushed and all checklists were completed. The anti ice system was selected on for the descent through the clouds and the left 14th stage sov was selected open to provide for left thrust reverser operation in anticipation of a contaminated runway. The approach and landing were completed uneventfully and the captain contacted dispatch/maintenance upon arrival at the gate.obviously the biggest difficulty here was our inability to communicate with company as required. ACARS in all of the airplanes would alleviate these types of situations; it would have also allowed us to request surrounding airport conditions much more quickly and easily. Given the circumstances and lack of resources we tried to proceed in the safest manner possible.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A malfunctioning engine anti-ice system required the commuter crew to communicate with Dispatch and Maintenance. They were unable to do so and were required to manage the balance of their flight; some of which was in icing conditions; without the support required by regulation.

Narrative: I was the flying pilot. During our climbout the conditions required the use of the wing and cowl anti-ice systems. Climbing through 5;000 FT we exited icing conditions and anti-ice was turned off. Shortly after leveling off at 10;000 FT we received a L Cowl A/ICE caution message. The Captain completed the appropriate QRH procedure which required us to avoid further encounters with icing conditions. At this point he began attempting to contact Dispatch through company radio but; after several minutes of trying on various frequencies there was no response.It appeared to us that IFR conditions persisted over most of the Midwest. Our destination ATIS reported overcast skies at 2;700 FT MSL and runway conditions were NOTAM'ed as patchy thin snow on the runway. All of the surrounding airports reported similar conditions. With 4;900 LBS of fuel remaining and unable to communicate with company per regulations we elected to continue to our destination. We knew the tops were roughly at 5;000 and the bottoms were reported at 2;700 MSL. We planned to make an expedited descent through the cloud layer down to 2;400 MSL; the initial altitude for the ILS to the runway. This was coordinated and approved by ATC.The Captain did an excellent job in making sure we were not rushed and all checklists were completed. The anti ice system was selected on for the descent through the clouds and the left 14th stage SOV was selected open to provide for left thrust reverser operation in anticipation of a contaminated runway. The approach and landing were completed uneventfully and the Captain contacted Dispatch/Maintenance upon arrival at the gate.Obviously the biggest difficulty here was our inability to communicate with company as required. ACARS in all of the airplanes would alleviate these types of situations; it would have also allowed us to request surrounding airport conditions much more quickly and easily. Given the circumstances and lack of resources we tried to proceed in the safest manner possible.

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.

Attributes
ACN	930098
Time
Date	201101
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Air/Ground Communication
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200 Flight Crew Total 5300 Flight Crew Type 3500
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural FAR Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

A malfunctioning engine anti-ice system required the commuter crew to communicate with dispatch and maintenance. They were unable to do so and were required to manage the balance of their flight; some of which was in icing conditions; without the support required by regulation.