Chapter 4 - Preventative Measures and Deicing Procedures

Manual Methods

9.  Reducing the amount of deicing fluid used can have a positive impact on both the cost and the environmental. Manual methods of snow removal should be used whenever possible, as long as safety is not compromised. There are a wide variety of devices available to assist in the removal of frozen contaminants from aircraft. Factors such as temperature, amount of contamination, wind conditions, and contaminant location must be taken into account when choosing the method.

10.  Under extremely low temperatures, the use of glycol based fluids is limited (refer to the fluid manufacturers' specifications for details). In these circumstances, manual methods may be the only option.

11.  Some of the more common devices are:

  • Brooms
  • Brushes
  • Ropes
  • Scrapers

Note:  Extreme care must be taken anytime manual methods are used to protect the highly sensitive and often fragile sensors and navigation antennas. Also very vulnerable to damage are: pitot tubes, static ports, angle of attack sensors, and vortex generators. When sweeping or "pulling" contamination off an aircraft, care must be taken to use motions which pull contamination away from any openings, in order to avoid forcing the contamination into any openings on the wings or stabilizers.