FAA

WASHINGTON D.C.  – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Tuesday proposed a significant expansion to its icing certification standards in order to increase safety and performance.

The expansion proposed includes a new requirement so that airplanes can operate safely in freezing drizzle or freezing rain. Such conditions are part of an icing environment known as supercooled large drops (SLDs).

The proposed rule will improve safety, airplane performance and handling qualities by mandating that new transport category aircraft most affected by SLD icing conditions meet expanded safety standards. The new regulation will also require that the new transport category designs should be able to fly in conditions where supercooled liquid and ice crystals exist.

The FAA also proposed changes on the icing certification requirements for engines, engine installations and some airplane components. These systems should be also able to perform in freezing rain, freezing drizzle, ice crystals and combinations of these icing phenomena.

The propositions are based largely on recommendations from the FAA’s Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC) and the National Transportation Safety Board. The FAA mandated ARAC to study possible expansions to the icing certification regulations after the 1994 accident in Roselawn, Illinois, caused by icing-related difficulties.