Nation IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : FAA to Propose New De-Icing Rules

The Federal Aviation Administration will propose new de-icing regulations next week for turboprop aircraft like the American Eagle ATR-72 that crashed in icy weather near Chicago in 1994, spokeswoman Drucella Andersen said. She said the regulations, prompted by the 1994 crash that killed 68 people, would go into effect 30 to 60 days after the announcement. The ATR crash was blamed on a peculiar form of ice droplets on the plane’s wings. Those planes have since been modified to prevent such icing. ATRs are made by Avions de Transport Regional, which is jointly owned by Aerospatiale of France and Alenia SpA of Italy. American Eagle is a regional carrier of American Airlines, a unit of AMR Corp. Andersen said the new regulations will not require design changes on other turboprops, as was required for the ATRs, but would be tailored to each type of plane and direct pilots and ground staff how to cope with that type of icing. She said the type of ice in question appears to pilots as a fog but can quickly freeze on contact with the wing and build up. It is not a threat to bigger jetliners because of the heat produced by jet engines.