12/04/2025
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🚁 Winter is settling in, and with it comes unique challenges for aviation — especially for medical aircraft like ours at Air Evac Lifeteam.
Even when the skies look clear from the ground, cold-weather conditions can create hazards that affect whether we’re able to launch safely.
One of the biggest winter concerns in aviation is icing.
Icing is the buildup of ice on an aircraft’s wings, rotor blades, engine components, or instruments. Even a small amount of ice can significantly affect performance by:
• altering aerodynamics
• decreasing lift and increasing drag
• reducing overall aircraft performance
• interfering with critical instruments
• decreasing engine power or causing potential damage
When does icing occur?
Icing can happen anytime the air temperature is 32°F (0°C) or colder and there is visible moisture present such as clouds, fog, rain, freezing drizzle, sleet, or snow.
Many icing events come from supercooled water droplets such as liquid moisture that remains unfrozen in freezing temperatures. When these droplets strike an aircraft, they freeze instantly, creating potentially dangerous ice buildup.
Even when the weather appears perfect from the ground, hazardous icing may exist at altitude or along the flight path.
That’s why our pilots conduct thorough weather evaluations before every mission and at times consult our Operational Control Center which consist of other pilots scanning the radar while we are out flying!
🚁 At Air Evac Lifeteam, safety isn’t just a priority—it’s our promise to our crews, our patients, and our requestors.
If you have a patient who may need air transport, please call us. Our crew will assess the conditions and make the safest decision for everyone involved. Your call allows us to explore every option safely and professionally.
We’re here for you all winter long — 24/7, whenever the need arises.
