Army Aviation Operations in Icing Conditions

Army aviation is vulnerable to in-flight and pre-flight icing because of the nature of its operations, flying primarily slow rotorcraft at low altitudes from non-traditional airfields with limited facilities. Icing causes mission delays during ground deicing of aircraft, and mission cancellations and aborted flights occur because of forecast or actual in-flight icing. CRREL, in coordination with the Army Aviation Directorate of Combat Developments, surveyed 35 aviation commands worldwide, and analyzed Army Safety Center accident and incident records. This paper presents the results, which identify and quantify the effect of icing on Army aviation. The severity of icing's impact on mission accomplishment is largely a function of aircraft type flown, location, mission, and airfield facilities.