Aircraft Icing: Risks and Solutions

[RandomGuy88]

I am wondering how much of a problem aircraft icing is. I realize that ice forming on the wings or other parts of the aircraft is very dangerous but are there some good stat about how many accidents this causes? Is it something that has become fairly simple to avoid? I know there is still some active research in this field but what are their main focuses? I have read a little bit about it and it seems like we know that ice can severely effect an aircraft but to me it seems like it would be easy to avoid situations in which ice could be problem, and why don't they just use something on the wings like the defrosters on the rear windshields of cars.

 

[mgb_phys]

I am wondering how much of a problem aircraft icing is.

Ice forms, plane crashes, everyone dies - pretty serious.

good stat about how many accidents this causes?.

aviation-safety.net has a list of every accident

Is it something that has become fairly simple to avoid?

anti-icing systems, weather radar and most importantly recognition of the danger.
But if you are flying turboprops on commuter routes in the eastern US in winter you are goign to risk icing.

why don't they just use something on the wings like the defrosters on the rear windshields of cars.

They use engine heat to deice, it's especially a problem on turboprops where you have less engine power to spare.
It's mainly a danger on the leading edges and control surfaces so you fit heaters or rubber inflating boots on these surfaces

But ultimately if you hit bad enough conditions the ice can form too quickly and you crash.

 

[RandomGuy88]

Thanks for the reply!