De-icing

[Lancer]

I was on a 737 out of Chicago today and the plane was de-iced.
While taxiing for departure the pilot came over the intercom and said the FA will be coming back to look at the wings to ensure they were properly de-iced as it is an FAA rule.
True? (I have not seen this before)

Also,
On takeoff, the pilot really trottled up with the brakes on causing the plane to violently vibrate with the brakes chattering. (I actually thought for a second that with the revs of the engines, one of them broke a blade)
The brakes were released and wow, we accelerated fast! (never seen this either).
Preference by the pilot?

Any comments would be appreciated.

[flyboy2548m]

I was on a 737 out of Chicago today and the plane was de-iced.
While taxiing for departure the pilot came over the intercom and said the FA will be coming back to look at the wings to ensure they were properly de-iced as it is an FAA rule.
True? (I have not seen this before)

The rule is that the aircraft must be inspected. It doesn't specify if it has to be by the F/A. The particular airline's OpSpecs would dictate that part. See 14 CFR Part 121.629.

Also,
On takeoff, the pilot really trottled up with the brakes on causing the plane to violently vibrate with the brakes chattering. (I actually thought for a second that with the revs of the engines, one of them broke a blade)
The brakes were released and wow, we accelerated fast! (never seen this either).
Preference by the pilot?

What was the vis and what runway was this?

[Vnav]

I was on a 737 out of Chicago today and the plane was de-iced.
While taxiing for departure the pilot came over the intercom and said the FA will be coming back to look at the wings to ensure they were properly de-iced as it is an FAA rule.
True? (I have not seen this before)

What you saw was a pretakeoff contamination check of representative surfaces from the Cabin. As part of any de-icing program, the pilots are required to continuously perform these contamination checks to ensure that no frozen contamination is adhering to aircraft surfaces. But under most conditions, they can perform this from the Cockpit using representative surfaces they can view form their seats. However, whenever holdover time expires under certain conditions of precip, or whenever the Cockpit check is questionable, a Cabin check must be performed. What you saw was perfectly normal, but it really should be done by a Pilot, not an F/A....though with post 9/11 security procedures, it is kind of a pain in the rear to send the F/O out.

On takeoff, the pilot really trottled up with the brakes on causing the plane to violently vibrate with the brakes chattering. (I actually thought for a second that with the revs of the engines, one of them broke a blade)
The brakes were released and wow, we accelerated fast! (never seen this either).
Preference by the pilot?

The 737 (as with most planes), requires a static runup of the engines prior to takeoff in icing conditions. In the 737 this requires a runup of at least 70% N1 with a check to ensure all engine instruments show proper indications. When taxiing for extended periods in icing conditions, the crew should also periodically perform engine runups to increase the performance of the Engine anti-ice systems on the ground when they are normally at or near idle conditions. Formerly, many airlines used an interval of every 30 minutes for these ground runups, but United Airlines specifically had some problems with their 737s in icing conditions at Denver International. On two separate days, they damaged the fan blades on 18 different aircraft to the tune of $3 million. Following these incidents, United went to an interval of 10 minutes for ground runups during taxi. What you heard during the pretakeoff static runup may have been some ice being shed from the Fan hub/blades.

[IberiaMD-87]

...said the FA will be coming back to look at the wings to ensure they were properly de-iced as it is an FAA rule.
True?

I donīt know if this is a FAA rule but Iīve read several times that after several ice-related accideint a number of countries/airlines began to accept that flight attendants should be an integral part of the safety-net. Once a Fokker F28-1000 of Air Ontario crashed in Dryden after take-off because of contaminated wings and the surviving flight attendant was at this time reluctant to bring questions by fellow passengers (regarding the snow on the wings) to the cockpit - possibly because they (flight attendants) were told on other occasions by pilots to "shut their mouths" and "they should not talk about things that they do not know".

Regards, IB M87

[ptbodale]

In Canada there is a de-ice coordinator lead/manager at the de-ice centre that determines the acft is okay to depart after aircraft has been sprayed. In Air Canada stations we employ our own person, however there is a rep from the airport authority for the other airlines. AC always did this, however it became mandatory for the other airlines because of the Dryden crash.

[Lancer]

Your answers are bang on. (I did mean to say FO not FA)
I did not know about the engine run up, but that is exactly what happened. Visability was not that good with a snowy runway and we accelerated very fast and rotated quickly -- very cool!
My guess is there was about 30 minutes of taxi after deice.

2 more questions:

- I would swear there was no or minimum flap on T/O, possible?
- if I was to see snow on the wing, should I be nervous? Should I say something?
(I'm the kind of guy to speak up and take the consequences rather than to shut up and regret it later....)

thanks.

[flyboy2548m]

- if I was to see snow on the wing, should I be nervous? Should I say something?

If the powdery stuff that blows right off, no biggie, but if it's sticking then yes.

[Vnav]

- I would swear there was no or minimum flap on T/O, possible?

The normal takeoff flap setting (if there is such a thing as normal) is Flaps 5. However, for airlines that do variable flap takeoff performance calculations, Flaps 1 is a valid takeoff setting as well. Obviously Flaps 1 doesn't look like much from a passenger window view, though neither does Flaps 5. If I was looking out the window, I would be more concerned about seeing the Leading Edge devices extended....if they are, you'll be allright.