Flight attendant averts 'potential disaster' after spotting ice on aircraft wings seconds before take-off

A flight attendant has averted “potential disaster” after spotting ice on an aircraft’s wings moments before take-off, a new report has revealed.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) reported the plane was preparing to enter the runway when the attendant alerted pilots, forcing them to abandon the departure.

Details of the incident have been released in the latest report from the Confidential Human Factors Incident Reporting Programme (Chirp) – the CAA scheme that encourages airline staff to raise safety concerns with complete anonymity.

The attendant said they noticed “a significant layer of snow accumulating on the wings” as they closed the aircraft door after boarding.

They said they did not mention this to any of the crew assuming the pilots must already be aware and requested de-icing.

But during the captain’s preflight announcement to passengers no mention of de-icing was made, despite this usually being the case.

“I found (this) strange but still I didn't say anything because I was still sure that they were going to do it," the attendant wrote.

“I was also thinking that, as experienced pilots, they must know what they are doing and it wasn't my place to tell them how to do their job."

During the safety demonstration, the attendant said they heard the flight crew lock the flight deck door and start the aircraft and it became clear the pilots “had no intention of de-icing the aircraft.”

By the time the safety demonstration had finished, the plan was already at the holding point ready to enter the runway.

“Therefore, before beginning to secure the cabin, I told the SCCM (senior cabin crew member) that there was a significant layer of snow on the wings and that it would be a good idea to let the pilots know,” they wrote.

“They looked at the wings and agreed with me and called them.”

The pilots initially replied to “stand by” before entering the runway and then turning around to taxi to a holding area.

“At this point an announcement was made to the passengers to explain what was happening and the FO (first officer) came out from the flight deck, asked two passengers sat by the wings to get up from their seat while they shone a torch light over them," the wrote.

“They then confirmed that it was ice, went back into the flight deck and the Captain then made an announcement to say that we would have to de-ice the aircraft.”

“So much snow was falling that even after de-icing the right wing, the snow was building up again whilst the opposite wing was being de-iced.”

The attendant said they were called by the captain to thank them for bringing it to his attention and explained that they had only seen snow on the wing during pre-flight checks but no ice, which was why they had not requested deicing.

“In the end, we were delayed so much that the runway was closed due to the snow and our flight was cancelled," they added.

They continued: “Following several aircraft accidents in the past, we know today that an aircraft should not attempt to take-off with any snow or ice on the wings so I feel it is extremely worrying that despite this, they were still going to attempt to take-off and also that nobody, except myself had noticed the severity of the situation which potentially could have ended in disaster.”

In comments following the report the a Chirp spokesman said: “It must never be assumed that someone else has already spotted a potential safety issue – it is better to report something twice than not at all.”

They continued: “Remember that the most important thing in such incidents is to report your concerns as soon as possible.”

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