From the Flight Deck with Captain Doug: Visit to the Icehouse
Jan 01, 2020
Toronto Pearson International Airport's CDF (Central Deice Facility) is the world's largest deice facility. This 65-acre drive-through can handle hundreds of aircraft daily.
The pilot radios the Ice house's pad control to be assigned a specific deicing bay.
Because this is alive (engines-running) operation, precise terminology and electronic signboards area must to ensure safety.
The pilot then radios the Ice house's "iceman” who oversees the actual spraying.
Only when the pilot transmits "Brakes set, aircraft configured to spray” will the single-operator deice vehicles move into action.
This article originally appeared in enRoute in February 2016.
Jan 12, 2022