Airborne ice warning

Beginning today, air traffic controllers and pilots in the US will receive detailed updates on in-flight icing, which can endanger commuter planes and larger commercial aircraft.

Graphical displays, developed by researchers at the US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), will for the first time rate areas by icing severity and the probability of encountering icing conditions. The enhanced in-flight icing product is intended to increase safety and reduce flight delays by guiding aircraft away from potentially hazardous icing conditions, thus saving the aviation industry more than $20m per year in injuries, aircraft damage, and fuel.

The displays are part of an upgrade to a system called CIP (Current Icing Product). They will be available to air traffic controllers, pilots, and other aviation weather users. The product has been developed at NCAR with funding from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

'This is a major advance that will enable dispatchers and even pilots to choose flight paths that avoid icing conditions,' said Marcia Politovich, who oversees in-flight icing research at NCAR. 'This product will help make commuter flights safer, and it will also enable commercial airlines to avoid the delays and excessive fuel costs associated with in-flight icing.'