Narrative:

The previous two legs of my cargo run I had experienced intermittent problems with my windshield anti-ice spray bar (the aircraft is equipped for flight into known icing with a tks anti-ice system). In my first two stops the company had local mechanics address the problem which was found to be air leaking into a fitting. After having the system worked on at my second location I ground tested it; checking both the spray bar and that all wing and tail panels were properly expelling fluid. After taking off I head for the previous station again; I started to receive a low pressure indication on main pump #1 in the climb at approximately 5;000 ft MSL. I then requested a climb to 9;000 MSL where I knew I would be out of the icing conditions and have an OAT above freezing; to shed what ice I had already accumulated. After leveling off I was troubleshooting the tks system and managed to get good fluid flow using main pump #2. However within 2 or 3 minutes I was receiving a low pressure indication again and no fluid was coming out the wing panels. ATC cleared me to 6;000 ft but I asked to stay at 9;000 for as long as possible while I tried to get the system back on-line. I conferred with another company pilot over air-to-air frequency but could not get the anti-ice system working again. When it became evident I would have to make a descent and approach through the icing conditions with no ice protection; I declared an emergency with center. I requested vectors for the ILS 14 but to remain at 9;000 ft until intercepting the localizer at which point I planned a rapid high-speed descent through the cloud layer (ceilings were reported at 1;900 AGL and 4 miles visibility). ATC turned me onto final at 11 miles from the localizer 14 FAF at which point I held a 1;500 - 2;000 FPM descent and caught the glideslope at the FAF. I broke out of the clouds at 4;000 MSL and made a circle to land approach to runway 32. When I broke out of the clouds I could see visibility over the airport was worse than reported; only one mile or less in heavy snow. I was able to land on runway 32 with no incident. I believe my decision to land at the scheduled airport despite the descent through icing conditions to be the correct one since there were no practical alternates within my practical fuel range reporting conditions that would allow me to descend without encountering icing conditions.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A C210's TKS anti-ice system failed in flight after prior maintenance for a similar condition. An emergency was declared for the destination airport approach which was flown through known icing conditions.

Narrative: The previous two legs of my cargo run I had experienced intermittent problems with my windshield anti-ice spray bar (the aircraft is equipped for flight into known icing with a TKS anti-ice system). In my first two stops the company had local mechanics address the problem which was found to be air leaking into a fitting. After having the system worked on at my second location I ground tested it; checking both the spray bar and that all wing and tail panels were properly expelling fluid. After taking off I head for the previous station again; I started to receive a low pressure indication on main pump #1 in the climb at approximately 5;000 FT MSL. I then requested a climb to 9;000 MSL where I knew I would be out of the icing conditions and have an OAT above freezing; to shed what ice I had already accumulated. After leveling off I was troubleshooting the TKS system and managed to get good fluid flow using main pump #2. However within 2 or 3 minutes I was receiving a low pressure indication again and no fluid was coming out the wing panels. ATC cleared me to 6;000 FT but I asked to stay at 9;000 for as long as possible while I tried to get the system back on-line. I conferred with another company pilot over air-to-air frequency but could not get the anti-ice system working again. When it became evident I would have to make a descent and approach through the icing conditions with no ice protection; I declared an emergency with Center. I requested vectors for the ILS 14 but to remain at 9;000 FT until intercepting the localizer at which point I planned a rapid high-speed descent through the cloud layer (ceilings were reported at 1;900 AGL and 4 miles visibility). ATC turned me onto final at 11 miles from the LOC 14 FAF at which point I held a 1;500 - 2;000 FPM descent and caught the glideslope at the FAF. I broke out of the clouds at 4;000 MSL and made a circle to land approach to Runway 32. When I broke out of the clouds I could see visibility over the airport was worse than reported; only one mile or less in heavy snow. I was able to land on Runway 32 with no incident. I believe my decision to land at the scheduled airport despite the descent through icing conditions to be the correct one since there were no practical alternates within my practical fuel range reporting conditions that would allow me to descend without encountering icing conditions.

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.