With Deicing Season Nigh, Regional Rules Differ

Some Part 135 operators are facing the winter season with a big problem on their hands: regional Flight Standard District Office inspectors are interpreting the regulations and guidance on deicing in a manner that's not consistent nationwide. It's a perennial problem and one that the National Air Transportation Association struggles with on behalf of its members.

There's no single geographical region where the problem seems to center, according to Jacqueline Rosser, the NATA's director of regulatory affairs. "Confusion seems to have no boundaries," she says, and it first cropped up a few years ago. "One of two things happen: there's confusion concerning how the operator has been complying, or they've been issued the wrong OpSpec."

Rosser advises operators to ensure that they discard OpSpec A023, which governs ground deicing procedures under Part 121 and ensure they have A041, which is appropriate to the Part 135 requirement to conduct an airframe check within five minutes of takeoff to ensure the surfaces are free of ice and frost.  How the frost is removed is not stipulated under the current regulations, and the airframe check can be conducted either outside or inside the aircraft.

"People who got it resolved did two things," Rosser says. "They had the right OpSpec and they trained their pilots."

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