The US Federal Aviation Administration has proposed an airworthiness directive (AD) calling for the installation of ice-detection systems on the Embraer EMB-120 regional turboprop.
The AD follows the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report into the crash of a Comair EMB-120RT in Michigan on 9 January, which indicated that ice could have been a contributory factor.
The AD, if adopted, will affect 220 EMB-120s operated in the USA by Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Comair, Continental Express and United Express.
The FAA says that installation of ice-detector systems would cost airlines $4 million and would be required within six months. Embraer, which expressed some dismay at the proposed FAA action, says that the modifications would involve installation of a Rosemount detection probe on the upper surface of the nose section, as well as related wiring changes. The Brazilian manufacturer, which says that it alerted its US customers to the proposed FAA AD states that the installation will cost around $18,000 per aircraft.
Flightcrews use visual cues to detect ice-build up on the EMB-120, and Embraer believes that the requirement to install an automated system is unnecessary. It adds that no other nation is likely to follow the FAA in making such a change mandatory.
Source: Flight International
