Preparing airplanes for flight during the holidays

AccuWeather

Former airline pilot Steve Fleishel was live on the AccuWeather Network on Dec. 18 to discuss how airplanes are prepared for travel during the winter months.

Transcript

00:00Now with so many of us heading to the airport for holiday travel it's good to hear from an

00:05experienced pilot. Stephen Fleishall has flown more than 25,000 hours for major airlines. Thanks

00:12so much for joining us Steve. Thank you, appreciate it, glad to be here. Well many

00:17flyers are concerned about winter weather of course during the holidays and so from a pilot's

00:21perspective what conditions bring the biggest challenges to the flight? Actually I would say

00:28really two for winter time and that is slippery runways due to ice and snow and also low

00:35visibility approaches like you've been talking to the folks this morning about fog coming in

00:41well that causes all of the aircraft to have to shoot an instrument approach which it takes more

00:47time and so fewer aircraft can be accommodated when wintry conditions are present like that.

00:54So it's more of a problem with visibility than necessarily some precipitation falling but if you

01:00had to pick what is worth snow or freezing rain which would you say is the most challenging?

01:08Well that's a great question and actually if you hear that they're going to have freezing rain it

01:14pretty much shuts things down because once an aircraft is de-iced there's only a limited amount

01:22of time before the aircraft has to be airborne. The de-icing fluids that are applied only last

01:31for so long. Well when you have freezing rain that time is very very short and for practical

01:39conditions really the operation has to stop. That's a good kind of behind the scenes of what

01:45goes on can you kind of break down the steps that airlines take on the ground for any kind

01:50of de-icing measurements? Sure and in fact I'm glad for that question because I know

01:56when passengers are looking out the window and they see all the the trucks and the

02:00fluids being applied to the wings and it's very often a two-step process. The first step

02:08you'll see is it removes all the ice and snow from the wings and you can see that happening

02:14but then if it's continuing to snow and you still have precipitation you'll see a second step

02:21and that other fluid is a different kind and it's designed to allow some accumulation

02:28but not for it to stick so that when the aircraft makes the takeoff then whatever snow is now still

02:36on the wings will slough off during the takeoff and that's intended and part of the design of

02:42that system. If you're a nervous flyer what should they remember about the skills of pilots

02:48at the helm of the aircraft including yourself? Well we practice in the simulator the worst

02:57possible conditions and so it isn't the first time we've seen a given situation and we also have

03:07a tremendous team available to us that the people on the ground, air traffic control,

03:14the weather folks like yourselves that provide information that are useful to us to to know what

03:19to expect. Just keep in mind that we're staying on top of it and our job is to manage a margin

03:26of safety and I think we do it quite well. And Steve final question do you love or hate when

03:31people clap when you land the planes? Well I honestly couldn't hear it usually the cockpit

03:39door is closed so I just hope people are pleased when that happens. Well you know if you were ever

03:44my pilot I was I was the one clapping I'm always clapping when you land and just saying being very

03:49thankful. Steve if you were my pilot I would just assume everything is going to be a-okay. We

03:55appreciate all of your service there with all of your flights. Former pilot Stephen Fleschel

03:59thank you again for joining us and we hope your holiday season is very joyful.

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