Make Your Winter Safety List, Check It Twice. Don’t be Naughty, Watch Out for Snow and Ice.
Pilots face new challenges as temperatures drop and precipitation falls. Here are the FAA’s top tips for pilots operating in winter weather:
1. Understand runway and weather conditions for your arrival airport during your pre-flight briefing.
Before you take off, make sure you have reviewed weather reports at your destination and en route, and that your aircraft is equipped to handle icing conditions and has adequate fuel.
If you are headed to destinations in Alaska, Colorado, or Hawaii, you can also look ahead with weather cameras.
2. Communicate with Air Traffic Control. If a weather-related concern or runway contamination leaves you unable to accept instructions, remember that the Tower is there to help.
As for non-towered, remember that you can always call the airport beforehand to get an update on runway conditions, or review the airport’s weather report.
3. Ensure a thorough weather briefing for your planned destination airport prior to departing. The FAA provides pilots with weather planning tools to check the National Airspace System status, airport status and delays and Surface Weather Observation Stations.
4. Check and understand Notices to Air Missions (NOTAMs) for your departure and arrival airport, especially if they pertain to snow and ice.
5. For air carrier pilots, verify your understanding of arrival and departure windows. Winter weather may require Prior Permission Required (PPR) or Slot Times.
6. Go slooooowwwwww. Plan extra time to enter and exit runways due to winter weather.
7. Learn the jargon air traffic controllers and airports use to assess runway conditions for pilots.
The FAA’s Takeoff and Landing Performance Assessment (TALPA) is a method for airports and air traffic controllers to communicate actual runway conditions to the pilots in terms that directly relate to the way a particular aircraft is expected to perform. The TALPA initiative improves the way the aviation community assesses runway conditions, which provides an aircraft operator with effective information to anticipate airplane braking action.
TALPA is mostly used at major airports, but all pilots could benefit from understanding more efficient ways to communicate and understand braking conditions with each other and airport personnel.
8. During snow removal on the airport, use caution for additional vehicles on movement areas. Learn more about how to stay safe when snow removal vehicles are in the mix.
9. No matter the weather, file a flight plan.
10. Help out your fellow pilots. Ask for and provide pilot weather reports (PIREPs) in flight so that other pilots can have information on the weather you are experiencing.
11. Lookout for the signs. Snow drifts can obscure airport signage and markings both on the surface and alongside the runway or taxiway, making it difficult for a pilot to know where to hold short or turn.
One way to prepare for this possibility is to get familiar with destination airports before you fly by reviewing airport diagrams. You can also browse our From the Flight Deck video series for first-person footage of safe landings at airports throughout the country.
12. Understand icing conditions and when they occur in flight. Check out this Advisory Circular on Flight in Icing Conditions.
The National Weather Service also has predictive models for aircraft icing, including icing PIREPs. Learn more about how the FAA contributes to current and forecast icing products (CIP/FIP).
13. Check your tire pressure before departing. Cold weather will affect tire pressure.
14. Stay Warm. This may seem trivial, but long-term exposure to the cold can have a physiological effect on both your body and your mind, affecting response time and basic motor functions. Not only should you dress warmly enough, but you might also consider packing some high energy food, a Mylar blanket, some warming packets, or a change of clothing in case yours gets wet.
Learn more about how the cold can affect your ability to fly in this issue of the FAA Safety Briefing Magazine (PDF).
Bonus. Not planning on flying this winter? Learn how to safely store your aircraft, so that you don’t experience issues in the spring.
More resources:
- Advisory Circular 00–6B — Aviation Weather
- FAA Winter Flying Tips (PDF)
- National Airspace System Status
FAA Safety Briefing Magazine
