Icing Problems for Planes Over Pa. Raised Alerts

Of six total crashes involving a PC-12/45, one has been linked to mechanical failure, according to NTSB records.

Since July, federal authorities have issued two orders for modifications to PC-12s, The Providence Journal reported Monday. One involved wiring for windshield de-icing equipment.

In 2000, the Federal Aviation Administration called for a modification to the PC-12's flight manual.

The manual should tell pilots to activate a part of the de-icing system as soon as they see ice buildup, the FAA said.

Still, Dannaker said, Pilatus models are like the Range Rovers of the sky -- and no stranger to University Park Airport.

"Sometimes you won't see any for a month, and then you'll see two or three the next month, sometimes in the same day," Dannaker said. He said one Big Ten university -- not Penn State -- uses a fleet of Pilatus planes to transport its athletes.

University Park Airport annually hosts about 68,000 landings and take-offs, about 15,000 of which are for scheduled commercial flights. The rest involve chartered aircraft, corporate and private planes and Federal Express flights. FedEx has three or four flights a day, Rodgers said.

Hubert C. "Skip" Smith, professor emeritus of aerospace engineering at Penn State, said there's nothing unusually tricky about flying into the airport.

"It's a very standard approach," said Smith, also a flight instructor. "The airport has gone through many, many updates in recent years, and it's first-class as far as safety."