My first experience with icing came on 11/25/2003 which was two days before Thanksgiving. I was consulting at an ‘e-publishing’ company on the west side of Danbury when my friend called me around 2pm. “Are you instrument current?” he asked. I told him I was and wondered aloud about why he wanted to know. “I need to go pick up my son at School in Rochester and I’m not current, can you come along, sit left seat- that way we’ll both be able to log the time?”
I said I’d call him back and then called Judy and asked her if she had any plans for me that evening. Judy said she was baking pies and making cranberry sauce and likely I would be in the way so by all means go. I called him back and said I’d meet him at the airport around 3:30 and we could blast off then.
Arriving at the airport I walked into my pal when he was leaving the briefing room. What’s the weather I asked? “We should be good if we get out of here right away and quick turn once we’re up there, we’re filed IFR Carmel, Sparta, Lake Henry, Binghamton then Rochester, the preferred route” was his reply. I then asked why we needed to leave right away. Sure enough there was a Nor-Easter coming up the coast and it was forecasted to overspread our area by 8 or 9 o’clock that night. The forecast was grim with freezing rain followed by a significant snowfall if the conditions stayed the same. The nor’easter was also going to meet up with a system approaching the area from the west in one of those perfect storm type scenarios.
I suggested scrapping the IFR preferred route and heading up the Hudson VFR until Albany and then taking V2 across to Rochester. I was very familiar with that route as Judy’s from Buffalo and we have family there. It’s a great route with big airports every 45 minutes, each with multiple approaches and MOCA’s down at 1900’ from Syracuse to Rochester. The preferred routing would have us heading due west into the weather as well as the Catskill and Pocono Mountains. This is rough sparsely populated terrain favored by soaring enthusiasts for the updrafts it creates. We bantered this about for a few minutes and finally I said “ Just look at us. You’ve got sneakers and a windbreaker on. I’m wearing a sport coat and loafers, I know it’s only a 20 minute ride over the mountains but how long of a walk would it be to get out of there?”
That cinched it and we were on our way to Albany to join Victor 2.
The flight was uneventful at 3000 until we were about 25 miles northwest of Albany when we were having a hard time staying VFR at 3000. We were bumping the bottoms and the sun was setting so I called Griffis Approach and asked them for an IFR from our present position to Rochester via Victor 2 at 4000. We were already getting flight following so the controller comes back and says you’re cleared to ROC present position via V2 climb and maintain 4000.
We added the power and started up. Once we entered the clouds it got really dark. I turned up the instrument lights and started steeling myself for flying the balance of the trip IFR. A little voice came on inside my head saying geez Sean you really weren’t prepared to do a couple of hours of night actual, maybe this trip wasn’t the best idea. About then my pal pulls out his enroute charts and a flashlight to take a look at what constituted Victor 2. As he was unfolding and trying to make the chart a manageable size his flashlight panned up onto the windshield. I made some comment about the distraction he was making crinkling paper and shining his light around in the dark when I looked up and saw that the windshield was covered in ice. I said “Dude, we’re picking up some ice”, then called Griffis and asked them for lower. “Higher would be the better play” Steve quipped. I said “geez I’d agree if we knew where the tops are, we were just VFR at 3000 and was clear below, we’re picking up ice at 4000 lets go down”.
He couldn’t argue that and the controller cleared us down to 3000 so the discussion was essentially over. We got handed off to Syracuse approach. I called them and said we’re at 3000 but still in the clouds picking up ice and asked if to descend lower? They cleared us down to 2500 but couldn’t guarantee radar coverage at that altitude due to the terrain. We were still in it but could see the ground every so often. We were still picking up some ice and let the Rochester controller know it when we got that hand off. They cleared us down to 1900 and finally we were in the clear and told to expect the ILS runway 4. We were getting vectors to join and were number 3 for the approach and were grateful for it, to give the defroster a chance to clear a spot on the windshield to look through. It was his Skylane and I wasn’t familiar with how it would handle with a load of Ice so when he suggested that he fly the approach I was more than happy to watch.
We landed uneventfully and taxied into Piedmont Hawthorne. We drew a crowd on the cold ramp as we pulled in. As we hopped out of the airplane we saw all the leading edges were covered in ice. Walking around the airplane we were snapping the formations off the airplane and dropping it to the ground. When we were done it looked like someone had emptied coolers around the airplane as there was a perfect outline of a Cessna n the ramp.
Once inside I noted the absence of his son. We looked around the lobby and a cell phone call confirmed that he was running late and should be there anytime. I hit the men’s room taking the time to power up my cell phone to check in with Judy tell her I had arrived and could she look out the window and let me know about the greater Danbury weather outside? I told here about the icing encounter and she asked me to call her and let her know what our travel plans were.
I walked into the planning room in time to hear my friend in a heated exchange with the FSS briefer. The portion I was hearing was ‘The other briefer told me that the system wasn’t due to arrive in the NY area until after 9 and one to the west wasn’t supposed to be here until till midnight”. That’s didn’t sound good and was uncomfortable to listen to so I slipped out to the lobby to make sure I could grab his kid when he walked in and called Flight Service for myself. The briefer told me that the nor’easter was moving faster than expected was in southern New Jersey. The system to the west was already over central PA and was moving eastward. There may be a window of opportunity but we would need to leave now and flight plan accordingly.
My buddy’s son was in the parking lot and I went in and asked my friend what he wanted to do? He was in a tizzy and was acting as if the flight briefers were salespeople who hadn’t delivered. The “sky was falling, what’s the use, we got to get out of here now, I can do it , look at all the ice we carried in here, I’ll file for 9 or 11 and we’ll be on top” was his rain of consciousness. It was real concerning to me as I had just had been reading some article about hazardous attitudes and antidotes along with some material about Personal Minimums checklists. While reading that I noticed the prevalence of the External Pressures “E” in each acronym.
Rod Machado had also written an article about how we always ask “what do we have to lose” but ask it in the wrong sequence. Rod said we needed to first ask “What do we have to gain”, then with that answer in hand gives a different perspective the ”what do we have to lose” question. There I was, watching a guy I had flown with several dozen times, going to pieces, and exhibiting every hazardous attitude in the book and not even conscience of the fact he was doing so. His son was late, we had to leave right away or get stuck there and all of this was absolutely unacceptable.
We loaded up the plane and discussed our options. He was inclined to file direct to save time but I knew that wasn’t going to work so we compromised by filing what we had just flown but at 9000 hoping the tops were going to be around 7000.
After we boarded the Skylane he was extremely animated. He was saying that Flight Service give him conflicting information compared to his briefing a few hours ago and had amended the Bridgeport forecast but not White Plains. His son was in the back seat so I put the intercom in crew mode and said “hey, we don’t have to do this, we can just rent a car, drive home, wait out the storm and fly up here Friday in my Mooney and pick up your plane”. He was flushed and agitated. I suggested that we call Danbury Tower on our cell and ask them what the weather is and we did. The tower controller told us Danbury was 9000 over and 10. White Plains was 7000 but Teterboro was 4500 broken with visibilities reduced in light freezing rain.
It was colder in Rochester so we took off into light snow. We climbed through the snow and broke out around 7000. At 9000 and were in the clear and picking up some good speed. We were on top of an undercast in smooth air with the cities and towns visible by the light they cast on the clouds below us. l Albany when we noticed the clouds were now around our level and a call to ask about the weather in White Plains and south west had the ceiling lower and the precip starting. Danbury was calling 5000 so we asked for 3000 and got it. We flew the GPS 8 approach in clear weather and landed uneventfully.
I think back on all of the emotions I felt while on that trip. The Rod Machado article sticks out because while I was waiting in the FBO in Rochester I finally asked the “what do I have to gain” question. I came back with a few hours of free flying time in a high performance single. Then I asked the “what do I have to lose?”, the only answer was my life. I actually played thru the scenario that would have gone down at our thanksgiving table two days later. How my inattention would have ruined what I feel is the best holiday on our calendar.
The External pressure element is the deadly one. My friend needed to prove to his Wife and Son that they had an airplane and that he, being an instructor, should be able to shuttle his son back and forth to college on demand. His wife needed some sort of rational reason of why so much of their treasure was being diverted to a 30 year old amalgamation of aluminum and other metals siting out on a rented piece of ramp at the airport.
All of that aside I learned quite a few lessons. Always get your own briefing. Regardless of who’s flying it’s your soul on board protect it and make your own decision.
Your personal minimum checklist is personal. Adding another pilot doesn’t lower your minimums nor does your experience raise theirs.
Once back on the ground at home my buddy had this I told you so/you’re too conservative attitude about him so rather than stop and have a drink we both hopped in our cars and drove home. I walked through the door and the house smelled of pies. Judy had a fire going and a huge pile of wood drying inside.
We woke up the next morning to a foot of snow on the ground. Family was due to arrive later that day
