2010-12 · NASA ASRS report 925302
MD80 flight crew is informed during taxi that a commuting pilot had detected frost on the wings. Frost is confirmed by the First Officer and the flight returns to the gate to be deiced.
During taxi out the Flight Attendant called and informed us that a commuting pilot had told her that we had frost on the wings. We pulled into a holding pad; and the First Officer went back to re-inspect the wings. We did have thin frost which he described as in a box like pattern over the fuel tanks. We returned to a gate and were de-iced. How this happened: We arrived at the aircraft more than 1 hour before departure. The First Officer probably did the preflight walk around prior to fueling the aircraft. It was very cold; approximately 15-20F. Afterwards the First Officer and I 'discussed' the need to do the wing inspection from the cabin after fueling and closer to departure time. A contributing issue was when I arrived at the gate I looked out and saw our aircraft in the bright sun; looking clean; sitting in puddles of de-ice fluid. I wrongly assumed the aircraft may have been pre-treated. When I boarded; I found the aircraft to be warm and looking like it had just flown in. Again; I was wrong; the aircraft was an over-nighter. I took the bait; and with my wrong assumptions; didn't get a verbal 'clean wings' statement from the First Officer. The wing tanks were filled to FULL in what was a cold soaked aircraft. I reviewed the procedures in the operating handbook with the First Officer during the flight. To prevent this; obviously we both need to be more vigilant and not take the bait of sunny; later morning departure; warm aircraft. Beyond that; adding 'icing considerations' to the checklist may help. Humbled and humiliated; this won't happen to me again. I hope others will learn from the experience.
During the walk around inspection prior to the leg; I didn't notice any ice/frost on the upper wing surface. My normal procedure on the first leg of the day in winter is to also inspect the wings from the cabin of the aircraft. In fact; I made a mental note to do this as I was completing the walk around. Somehow; as I was completing the preflight/meeting [with] the rest of the crew I neglected/forgot to check the wings from the inside. We taxied out normally; but a jump-seater noticed ice on the wings as we were approaching the runway and alerted a flight attendant. She let us know and we returned to the gate and deiced. I mentioned fatigue as a factor because I had awakened well before dawn to make an early deadhead to start the trip; it certainly wasn't the only cause but I feel it was a factor.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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