Whats “Known” about Icing?
Five months ago Luis Gutierrez, Director of Regulatory and Certification Policy for AOPA, asked that the FAA’s Office of the Chief Counsel rescind a letter of interpretation issued by the FAA’s Office of the Regional Counsel, Eastern Region, defining “flight in known icing conditions”. The letter of interpretation, dated June 6, 2006, responded to a citizen’s request that the FAA clarify when “known ice” exists for purposes of enforcement action. The concern was that the very broad-brush definition then produced could (and probably would) be applied to just about any meteorological day that precipitation or visible moisture (i.e. cloud) was present. It wasn’t only non-meteorological, it was illogical and nothing much more than a lawyer’s omnibus description of what he’d once seen in a refrigerator ice-tray. The portents of any such description had the probability of impacting upon warranty, insurance liability and post-accident court-cases as well as FAA regulatory action against indiv
