Not so good memoirs.
This accident happened in front of our eyes as we were next in line. I had the KLM COO at the time on board and I requested him to come to the flight deck. We were all shocked at what had happened.
The report from the Transport Safety Board of Canada is very accurate report; however I am missing a recommendation.
Make deicing and communications a SOP at all airports worldwide so there can be no misunderstandings.
For those of us who are flying in the Northern hemisphere it may be a frequent event for others not. In adverse weather there are several extra things to check, like take of alternates available, take off performance calculations for contaminated runways etc. If on top of that you have to familiarize with the local deicing procedures and communications this could be too much and lead to accidents and incidents.
Well I hope somebody will read this and finds it worthwhile to work this out, I go back to the garden picking olives who are very early this year in the Provence.
Good Flying!
John