Originally Posted by
Turbosina
Honest question here. We were parked next to an Allegiant MD-80 today, and we saw the CA (not the FO) come out and do the walkaround. Except he had a folding ladder and a long white pole, and he climbed up on the ladder and was doing something to the upper surface of the right wing with the pole.
For the life of us, we couldn't figure out what preflight procedure could require a ladder and a pole?
I can't speak specifically for Allegiant (I don't work there...), but all DC-9s (incl. the DC-9-80) have a requirement to check the upper wings for ice whenever the ambient temperature is < 10 deg C and there's precipitation or the temp/dew-point spread is (I think) less than 2 or 3 degs. Those black strips just outside of the overwing exits aren't for traction as you're going out of the overwing exit. They're rumble strips. When you rub the wand (the long white pole you were referring to) over them, they should feel rough. But if you don't feel the roughness when you rub the wand over them, you have to get deiced... even if it's 10 deg C outside.
The DC-9s all have a super-critical wing. And it's susceptible to icing on even relatively-warm days.
What location were you at?