Originally Posted by
CALFO
Short Bus,
I don't really understand your post. Just a bunch of miscellaneous quotes. If you are quetioning the value of a visual inspection for ice pellets then please reread my previous post that you quoted. This is not a visual inspection, it is a tactile (physical) inspection with a qualified inspection physically touching the outboard wing of the most adversely affected side of the aircraft.
We don't do these at all the outstations, if-fact, I believe it is only performed at the EWR and CLE. We have a lot of metal to move out of both and while a sincere hassle, I imagine that it is well worth the money and time to get the planes off the ground. I've never actually seen it performed, but I suspect that's how planes were getting airborne that day in EWR.
You're correct. Sorry about the confusion. Did they actaully have someone that was qualified going out and physically touching the aircraft ("critical surfaces"), then getting airborne in 5 minutes? I don't know, I wasn't there.