PASCO, Wash. – The cold weather could make traveling harder this week. According to data from Flight Aware, more than 1,200 flights have been canceled, and 1,300 were delayed around the country on Tuesday.
That same data from Flight Aware said the Tri-Cities Airport has seen three delays and one cancellation so far.
Ian Goben, an aircraft mechanic and pilot at Bergstrom Aircraft, said the aircraft goes through checks to ensure airworthiness.
“Those airplanes get parked at night and go through a various set of checks,” said Goben. “So they get the plane ready for the cold temperatures.”
Goben said some of those checks include “draining all the potable water and making sure those systems aren’t going to freeze.” “Then they hook up what’s called a preconditioned air unit, or PCA. They will let those run overnight. Essentially, it’s what’s keeping the airplane warm so it’s not going to freeze.”
Goben said with snow in the forecast, the biggest issue for small planes is getting the engine started. He said it’s a different story for commercial airliners.
“They have an auxiliary power unit which is a small jet engine turbine generator that produces electricity that they can use to start the airplane,” Goben said.
According to Goben, there’s a condition that pilots pay attention to called “Known Icing Conditions.” Goben said this plays a significant factor in deciding to fly or not.
“Visibility, falling precipitation, those are going to be the biggest factors on both sides of the world,” he said. “Whether small or big. The big airlines have the ability to deal with precipitation than we do.”
Goben said the bigger planes are made to fly in those situations because they have the equipment that smaller aircraft don’t.
The Tri-Cities Airport crews pretreat the planes with deicer and an anti-ice chemical. According to Goben, that is sprayed on from a boom truck at 160 to 170 degrees.
He said the runways at the Tri-Cities Airport runways are plowed with special trucks at the airport. The trucks have brushes to remove ice and snow.
According to Goben, the airport’s runway is reinforced concrete and has another safety measure.
“It’s grooved to give traction,” he said. “Those grooves are a big reason as to why that are able to operate in cold snowy conditions. If there’s not physical snow, that grooving is just like the tread on a tire.”
Goben said Bergstrom’s company policy for flying is that if the temperature is at 20 degrees or the wind chill feels like 20 below zero, they will ground their aircraft to ensure the planes will fly later.
