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Cirrus SR20 Down in North Sea

Flyer59 wrote:

But even with FIKI severe icing can quickly kill you.

Exactly. This is the definition of “severe icing”: “The rate of accumulation is such that deicing/anti-icing equipment fails to reduce or control the hazard. Immediate flight diversion is necessary.

What puzzles me is that the weather report cited above gives severe icing only from GND to 2500ft. A whatever Cirrus with only one person on board should be able to climb quickly above that altitude.

EDDS - Stuttgart

What if you fly into it, get surprised and the ice builds up so quickly that you can’t climb? The SR20 with 200 hp is not known for its great performance … might not be strong enough to climb in severe icing …

A terrible way to die

Could not get the 15 lcl one anymore, but this is the Advice of the DWD for 16z.

In the area he came down, the 0 degree level seems to have been around 5000 ft. Wind at 5000 ft about 220/25kt, sufrace 200/25 kt. Crossection shows the clouds to the deck….

LSZH(work) LSZF (GA base), Switzerland

How can it be severe icing from gnd to 2500 if the freezing level is 5000?

Is this really about an SR-20 and not SR-22 with at least full TKS?

TKS is no good for a long flight like this. The liquid will be gone in 1-2hrs in real icing conditions.

But for sure the “freezing rain” is nonsense below the 0C level.

Also I have never known a pilot who reads SIGMETs. There is much better data nowadays. But, as I posted in that linked thread, loads of people have no idea about how to get weather.

OTOH, if the 0C level was 5000ft, why crash? No thunderstorms… the sferics picture has been clean for a long time.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Freezing rain can do that. The FZ level on the Advice forecast chart appears to be thereabouts, also on the crossection I looked at. There could have been a lower surface layer below freezing, which would explain the FZRA. That layer would not appear on the ADVICE chart. That is the forecast, and quite probably what the pilot might have seen before the flight.

LSZH(work) LSZF (GA base), Switzerland

Peter wrote:

Also I have never known a pilot who reads SIGMETs.

I do. They are part of our briefing package. I am not so much worried about icing, but rather turbulence. Passengers who spend fife-figure amounts for rather short flights don’t like to be thrown around while enjoying their Champagne… But “severe icing” will also get my attention.

EDDS - Stuttgart

I am not so much worried about icing, but rather turbulence

Isn’t that however rather high altitude turbulence, like the turbulence data shown in the SigWx charts?

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Peter wrote:

Isn’t that however rather high altitude turbulence, like the turbulence data shown in the SigWx charts?

Yes, exactly. We also get a cross section along the flight path (similar to the GRAMET which is promoted around here) that shows turbulence. And also icing.

EDDS - Stuttgart

TKS, and FIKI TKS for that matter aswell are not meant for cruising in icing conditions, just for the climb/descent through ice.

And this was an SR20 without any TKS.

I just remembered that i got a call from a German guy who was about to buy an SR20 in England and who asked me about keeping it on G-reg … that was some days before Christmas … i remember he told me he was VFR, and the equipment of the plane matches his description … :-(

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