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'De-icing with death': airline staff raise eyebrows with rudimentary defrosting technique
Two ground staff at an airport in Turkey took a novel approach to de-icing a plane this week, by pouring what appeared to be the contents of a large bottle of water over the wing.
Passengers on board the Turkish Airlines plane watched agog as the two men in high-vis jackets balanced atop a ladder leaning against the wing, then sloshed a large bottle of liquid onto the ice. In a video captured by one of the passengers, the bottle looks like the ones used in office water dispensers – whether it contained de-icer or water is unclear.
The shambolic scenario at Sanliurfa Airport took an even stranger turn when one of the men – by accident or design – let the bottle roll down the icy wing, dispensing the mystery fluid as it went. The bottle hit the main fuselage with a thump – now half-full, precariously balanced, and out of reach of the two men.
It is unclear whether the two high-vis jacketed individuals are employed by Turkish Airlines or the airport, and how they managed to retrieve the bottle after their escapades.
When the video was shared on social media, the world’s #AVGeeks were quick to offer their opinions. There was a lot of pointing and laughing:
While some shared their experiences of other unconventional de-icings:
And others simply showed 'em how it's really done:
Conventional de-icing is, of course, a much more high-tech affair. De-icer is applied to planes using high-pressure jets and hydraulic lifts, as using salt would corrode the aluminium fuselage.
Glycol, the typical de-icer used in aviation, can lower the freezing point of water to minus 50C – and is coloured so staff can see whether they’ve missed any sections.
Despite its unconventional de-icing procedure, the plane departed from Sanliurfa – and no further hitches were reported. Turkish Airlines has not responded to Telegraph Travel’s request for comment.