Despite years of safe winter operations, including those in last season’s remarkably harsh conditions, U.S. airlines and the federal government must avoid complacency and refine risk reduction, concludes a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). Working from August 2009 to July 2010 to determine how risks of airplane icing and other winter hazards could be mitigated further, GAO auditors weighed the accident and incident history of large commercial airplanes1 related to icing and contaminated runways in the United States; results of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspection programs and enforcement of operator compliance with icing-related safety requirements (see “Airline Deicing Compliance below); results of FAA-industry initiatives on cold weather safety; and informed opinions about remaining challenges.
Inspection and enforcement policies were studied in conjunction with government databases, and subject…
