The model of plane that tragically crashed in a Bangor snowstorm earlier this week has been susceptible to wing-ice buildup.
The FAA has previously mandated strict pre-takeoff inspections and changes to Challenger 600-series aircraft’s flight manuals, insisting on physical checks of the wings.
Wing ice was suspected in a Bombardier 600 crash in 2005 in Teterboro, New Jersey.
Other Challenger 600s have also had problems with ice or even light frost on their wings, including one in Colorado in 2004 that crashed while trying to take off, killing the son of Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Sports.
Before the Paris-bound plane tried to lift off in Sunday’s Bangor crash airport crews were de-icing other aircraft waiting on the tarmac.
After landing in Bangor for refueling, the private Houston-based jet had been sitting in the cold for more than two hours – and it remains unclear whether it had been a part of the de-icing procedures, the New York Post reports.
Bombardier Challenger 600s have had a history of takeoff troubles during inclement, cold-weather takeoffs – with even small-ice accumulations being known to affect the craft, according to Jeff Guzzetti, a former longtime top NTSB crash investigator.
“Given the weather conditions at the time and the history of wing contamination with this particular aircraft, I’m sure that’s something the NTSB is going to look into immediately,” Guzzetti said.
“If there was any kind of precipitation at all, freezing precipitation, they would have needed to clean off those wings before they took off,” he added.
Guzzetti, now a private-aviation consultant, worked 17 years for the federal National Transportation Safety Board, including as chief investigator of major aviation accidents.
Icing can be a problem for any plane, even those not necessarily as susceptible to it as the Challengers.
“You can count on the fact that NTSB is going to look very closely at this,” John Cox, a veteran former US Airways captain, told The Associated Press.
Accumulation of frozen or cold precipitation, such as frost, snow, or ice, on the critical surfaces of an aircraft’s wings disrupts the smooth airflow necessary for generating lift.
Even minor icing as thin as a piece of paper can critically alter aircraft performance by increasing drag, increasing stall speeds, and degrading climb performance.
