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The canopy was thickly coated with ice. When you're blind you can't VFR. They couldn't use ice-obstructed instruments either, so a rapid descent would have enda
by jessaustin 7y ago
The canopy was thickly coated with ice. When you're blind you can't VFR. They couldn't use ice-obstructed instruments either, so a rapid descent would have endangered their plane and other aircraft. They did the right thing, suffering frostbite and cooperating with ground control to preserve life and property.
- ekelsen 7y agoI wasn't questioning whether they did the right thing. I wanted to understand why the obvious solution of descending (which is what commercial airliners have done successfully on numerous occasions when losing cabin pressurization) didn't work in this case.
- rconti 7y agoGiven Washington's geography, the freezing level on the west side of the mountains would have been far higher than on the east side. They might not have been able to descend below freezing until they crossed over the mountains.
- jessaustin 7y agoYes that's why I said "a rapid descent would have endangered their plane and other aircraft." I seriously doubt that any commercial airliner, with orders of magnitude more volume than this plane and insulation as well, has ever suffered an internal ice-over like the one described here.