Hot Ice Plane Hazard

Dense clouds: Invisible threat making planes fall out of the sky.

10:40 04 July 2016

“Flour grain-sized” ice particles could be to blame for plane crashes as they can stick to plane engines causing a loss of power. 

 

A new report in New Scientists says that the ice crystals form at high altitude and there are currently no commercial sensors or defences that can be used by pilots to detect them. It added that there’s evidence that the threat caused the crash of Air France Flight 447 into the Atlantic Ocean, which killed 228 people.  

 

The ice crystals are thought to be generated by deep convective thunderstorms and that they suck up warm moist air to form water droplets, which freeze and get spat out at the top of the system as ice clouds. The crystals, which are only 40 micrometres in diameter, are too small to be seen by aircraft radar or by pilots in the cockpit.

 

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing said in its website that tiny ice particles melting on hot engine could lead to the formation of crystal icing causing a “water film” to which other ice crystals can accumulate on. This can then stop an engine from working by damaging its blades or block its vital sensors.