The automatic ice detection system will warn the flight deck well before any pax would notice. I can honestly say in all my time on the dash 8 , NO passenger or CC have notified us of icing on the wings!
As to the future of the Dash 8, if the icing systems are used correctly and the correct procedures in the AOM are followed there is not a problem with it.
Pure speculation as to how a system works or what caused a crash where people have been injured or killed, is nothing but counter productive. Have some patience and allow the official report to be delivered.
and if you want to know how the Dash 8 systems actually work rather than guess, contact Bombardier and buy the F£"%ing manuals!
