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An enroute controller reported that an IFR aircraft was below mia and unable to hold altitude in an emergency situation due to icing.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 992639 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201202 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.ARTCC |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Golden Eagle 421 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Descent |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Enroute |
| Qualification | Air Traffic Control Fully Certified |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Inflight Event / Encounter VFR In IMC |
Narrative:
While at the sector; I was receiving numerous icing reports. Aircraft X departed northbound; requesting 18;000 ft. Eighteen thousand feet was not usable due to low altimeters; so I asked the pilot if he wanted 16;000 ft or 20;000 ft. He chose 16;000 ft. The aircraft turned around in the adjacent airspace due to severe icing and was handed back to me at 13;000 ft; my control. I descended him to 11;300 ft; my lowest mia; but he could not maintain altitude due to icing. I asked him if he had the terrain in site; and he said no. He was IMC. I informed my supervisor that I had an emergency situation. I kept the pilot updated on the mia and when he would be able to get lower. At one point he was 1;500 ft below my mia. I advised him that we have a 2;000 ft buffer in mountainous terrain so he could be as close as 500 ft to an obstacle. I issued a heading for him to fly to get to lower terrain sooner. I then asked my supervisor to pull up a terrain chart so I could estimate his proximity to the closest obstacle. I informed him that he was south of the highest obstacle that we depicted on the chart and kept assigning the lowest altitudes possible. He was able to get his departure airport in sight about six miles out. He chose to do a visual approach.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: An Enroute Controller reported that an IFR aircraft was below MIA and unable to hold altitude in an emergency situation due to icing.
Narrative: While at the Sector; I was receiving numerous icing reports. Aircraft X departed northbound; requesting 18;000 FT. Eighteen thousand feet was not usable due to low altimeters; so I asked the pilot if he wanted 16;000 FT or 20;000 FT. He chose 16;000 FT. The aircraft turned around in the adjacent airspace due to severe icing and was handed back to me at 13;000 FT; my control. I descended him to 11;300 FT; my lowest MIA; but he could not maintain altitude due to icing. I asked him if he had the terrain in site; and he said no. He was IMC. I informed my supervisor that I had an emergency situation. I kept the pilot updated on the MIA and when he would be able to get lower. At one point he was 1;500 FT below my MIA. I advised him that we have a 2;000 FT buffer in mountainous terrain so he could be as close as 500 FT to an obstacle. I issued a heading for him to fly to get to lower terrain sooner. I then asked my supervisor to pull up a terrain chart so I could estimate his proximity to the closest obstacle. I informed him that he was south of the highest obstacle that we depicted on the chart and kept assigning the lowest altitudes possible. He was able to get his departure airport in sight about six miles out. He chose to do a visual approach.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.