Frozen water may not seem like too much of a danger to you, but apparently it can be quite a disaster in the making if not taken care of. Slipping on a sheet of ice on the road is a tiny problem as compared to what ice can do to an air plane. Why then is removal of ice a major issue for optimal functioning of an air plane?

In cold weather ice can build up along the edges of the wings of the air plane. When this ice gets attached to the wings the shape of the wings is temporarily changed. As a successful flight depends largely on the aerodynamic shape of the air plane wings which causes adequate lift, a change in shape can mean a change in their ability to generate lift.

Without the right lift force acting on the air plane there is a good chance that it’s flight pattern will be adversely affected. Indeed this is what happened to the Boeing 737 which took off from Washington DC in 1982 and crashed into the frozen Potomac river killing 74 people.

The solution is simple. De-icing of the plane before take off. Commercially high pressure blasts of antifreeze are used to de-ice planes. However new science projects are being undertaken to find and even faster and more effective way to de-ice planes.