3AW Breakfast - De-Icing Aeroplanes
A rare cold-snap dropped the temperature at Melbourne Airport to below freezing, grounding the 5 a.m. departure of the Emirates A380 service to Dubai.
The overnight dew had frozen on the wing surfaces, requiring de-icing.
Melbourne International is the only airport approved to use hot water de-icing in the world. Colder airports use ICAO-regulated two-stage de-icing: high-pressure hot water to remove deposits followed-up by the low-pressure application of a glycol mixture which lowers the freezing level of the wing.
James Nixon explained the process to 3AW Breakfast's Ross Stevenson & John Burns on the 29th August 2018.
