Nicholas Belnap

Importance of deicing airplanes

Specific Goal: My main goal with be to inform and teach about the procedure and importance
deicing airplanes before flight. How it could save the lives of everyone on board.
Application: The audience will learn about the importance of deicing their airplane before they
take off, so they will understand it is protects them.
Ethos: The Aviation Safety Network Incidents Report of USAir Flight 405 found that ice and
snow were the cause of the crash.
Commissary of Inquiry of Canada Incidents Report Air Ontario Flight 1363 also found the ice and
snow were the cause of this crash.

NASA supporting the dangers of not hanging an aircraft properly deiced.

Pathos: The death of 49 passages that were on these flights.
Logos: The evidence of the airflow over the wings both in normal and ice conditions.
NASA Preventing Ice before It forms talks of the importance of the fluids that are
sprayed on the wings.

Audience Assessment: To the audience that I speak most will know that planes need to be
deiced in the winter. However many do not know why or how this is done.
Adaptation to Audience: My presentation will use simplified terms. I will not use terms that no
one will understand. I will also use images and slides to show what I mean so that others can
understand.
Pattern of Organization: My speech will be Topical in the introduction and some causes and
effect in the body.
Introduction
I.

II.

III.

Hook: Getting your plane de-iced could save your life.

A. Aircraft have crashed before because of ice and snow on their wings.
B. Thanks to NASA, new safety standards, and de-icing procedures this allows
aircraft to take off safely.
Thesis: Many of us do not understand why or how the aircraft is deiced, and the effects
that might happen if the airplane does not receive deice before it tries to take off in bad
weather.
Preview: So people better understand why their airplane is diced I will be taking about:
A. Airplanes, wings, and airflow over the wings in normal and ice conditions.
B. Deicing procedure and fluids they use on the wings.
C. What can happen is the aircraft is not deiced before takeoff and examples.

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Nicholas Belnap

Transition: So to begin let us talk about the aircraft and the wings of the aircraft.
Body
I.

Airflow over the wing is the key stone to the aircraft flying.
A. When air passes over a wing the air traveling under travels slower that the air
traveling over. This creates a high pressure under the wing and a low pressure on
top of the wings. This is what generates lift for the aircraft.
B. When ice forms on the wing, even if it is as thin and rough are sandpaper, it can
greatly decrease the amount of life that is generated by the wing.
C. This can threaten the safety of the airplane by making it hard to become airborne
or as simple decrease the gas efficiency.
Transition: This is why deicing an airplane is so important.
II.

When deicing several important things happen to allow for a safe take off. Two types of
fluids are sprayed on the wings.
A. A de-ice fluid which removes the ice and snow from the wings and body of the
aircraft. (NASA Preventing Ice Before It Forms)
B. Then an anti-ice fluid which gives the airplane time to take by protecting it from
the weather for a short time. (NASA Preventing Ice Before It Forms)
Transition: Now that we have talked about what happens when the wing has ice on it and the
de-icing fluid. Let us discuss what happens when the aircraft is not deiced.
III.

If the wings are not deiced or cleared of contaminates then it can have severe or even life
threatening consequences.
A. Over the years there have been several incidents thanks to ice or snow on the
wings.
B. Such as USAir Flight 405 where of the 51 people on board, 27 were killed in the
accident, including the captain and one of the cabin crew members (Aviation Safety
Network).
C. Also Air Ontario Flight 1363 that on impact, causing the deaths of 21 of the 65
passengers and 3 of the 4 crew members on board, including both pilots. (Commissary of
Inquiry of Canada)
D. Both flights crashed due to bad weather, inadequate deicing, and long delays in
snowing conditions. (Aviation Safety Network, Commissary of Inquiry of Canada)

Transition: Most passengers on a flight think of de-icing as something that is going to make
them late or an inconvenience, but not something that could save their life.

IV.
V.

Conclusion
The ice on a wing can greatly decrease the amount of lift generated by the wings.
It is important that they aircraft get sprayed with both de-ice and anti-ice fluid to make
sure they are safe.

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Nicholas Belnap

VI.

If we can do this we can avoid such things as Flight 405 and Flight 1363 and the pointless
loss of life.

References
Aviation Safety Network
http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19920322-1
Commissary of Inquiry of Canada
http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/200/301/pco-bcp/commissions-ef/moshansky1992eng/moshansky1992-eng.htm
NASA Preventing Ice before It Forms
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/technologies/prevent_ice.html
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting/aircraft_icing_vodcast.html
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/164449main_spinoff_06.pdf

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