I recognize this entire thread is mostly speculation, and the majority of "posters" are professionals who recognize the need to wait for the NTSB's official findings. That said, I also think this line of discussion has opened the eyes of many pilots to the inherent danger of flight into icing conditions and the limited amount of knowledge regarding tail plane icing/stalls. If anything will or has come of this disaster already it's everyone's increased awareness of the dangers of manned flight and hopefully that heightened awareness will lead to even safer skies.
The last few posts have started my mind churning on the idea/concept of a tail plane stall/main wing stall "coffin corner" of sorts. A position where the aircraft is iced increasing the stall speed of the main wing, drag, and thusly the power setting to maintain the suggested increased airspeed. Of which increased power settings can apparently contribute to a tail plane stall. A change in configuration, namely flaps, could potentially exacerbate this situation. I bring this up not to suggest it occurred in this situation, but seek the experience of a larger audience as I could not find anything connecting the overall effects of main wing ice and tail plane ice. The corrective action for both types of stalls are somewhat counter to each other and there seems to be little information on when these two potentially disastrous situations cross, if they do at all. I can only hope more research will be done to ensure we are doing all we can to make the safest form of transport safer.
Not sure if it's been posted yet, but an interesting AC regarding tailplane icing.
http://rgl.faa.gov/REGULATORY_AND_GUIDANCE_LIBRARY/RGADVISORYCIRCULAR.NSF/0/b178d8b350e1cc3a86256b6e004fcd3f/$FILE/AC23.143-1.pdf
Last edited by oshksh; 15th Feb 2009 at 18:11.