Fogger

     When people think about weather and how it can threaten aviation I'm sure most people think lightning, rain, snow, excessive wind which all pose a great threat to aviation.  However, I feel the most dangerous type of weather is the accumulation of dense fog.  Although fog is only in the first couple km in the troposphere it makes a pilots VFR inop and must rely entirely on the instruments in the cockpit and whatever information that is given by ATC’s.  This becomes a severe hazard for planes coming in for landing as you can barely see the runway markings along with not being able to visually see your altitude for landing.  It also causes roughly 22-25% of the major United States Airline delays because of dense fog.  



 Accompanying fog there can also be dew which in turn can cause blackice or freezing of aircraft flight controls (on the ground not in air).  With dew there is more H20 in the air and if it begins to freeze along with the dense fog, you have pilots trying to taxi or land with a slick runway and also not being able to see not only other aircraft but airport vehicles.  This is why I feel fog is the most dangerous type of weather.


References
Ahrens, C. D., & Henson, R. (2021). Meteorology Today: An Introduction to Weather, Climate, and the Environment (13th Edition). Cengage Learning US. https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9780357452721

Fleming, E. (2020, December 19). Does fog cause flight delays? – SidmartinBio. SidMartin Bio. https://www.sidmartinbio.org/does-fog-cause-flight-delays/#What_percentage_of_flights_are_delayed

Comments

  1. Quentin NemechekJanuary 19, 2022 at 4:08 PM

    I can seen how it would be a problem. Especially at low altitudes. I'm not sure I would agree that it would be the most dangerous though. More damage and casualties come from heavy turbulence. Although the technology we have today mitigates a lot of the issues with most weather delt with in aviation.

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