Italian authorities are looking into the operations at Brindisi Airport after an Italian politician shot video of ground crews de-icing a Ryan Air aircraft with buckets of hot water. The video shows a green-vested worker trudging across the ramp with a five-gallon bucket before climbing a set of stairs set up by the left wing of the airliner. His coworkers take the bucket and splash the contents on the section of wing inboard from the engine. The worker grabs an empty bucket and heads down the stairs. Airport officials told the Sun that their rules say using 140-degree water to de-ice lifting surfaces is just fine when the air temperature is at the freezing mark.
They also claimed the aircraft commander agreed. “The Captain was aware and satisfied,” the Sun quoted the airport authority as saying. “The procedure was to remove a little residual snow. It was a perfectly safe procedure.” Italy’s Ecole Nationale de l’Aviation Civile (ENAC) isn’t so sure. “In relation to press reports and videos circulated in recent days that report de-icing of the wings of aircraft departing from Brindisi Airport were carried out manually and in an inadequate manner, the National Agency for the Civil Aviation announces that it has initiated inspections on airport operations conducted at the airport in conjunction with the snowfall that affected the area,” the agency said in a statement. The Sun says Ryan Air hasn’t commented.
