SR22 pilot making an emergency descent out of icing conditions noted decreasing airspeed indications...

Attributes
ACN	1112091
Time
Date	201308
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	SR22
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Pitot/Static Ice System
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Private
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 25 Flight Crew Total 480 Flight Crew Type 480
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

Narrative:

Before and during an emergency descent from icing condition and during minor approved deviations for storm cells; pfd was showing slowing airspeed. OAT was -12C. Pfd continued to show slower; then stalling airspeed. Speed protection audible callout began. Checked engine and icing; but neither appeared to be a problem. There was no apparent icing on wings. I asked ATC for lower to get below the freezing point and was cleared in steps to 13;000 ft. I clicked off the autopilot for descent to have a better feel for airplane handling. On descent; I clicked on the pitot heat; which shortly thereafter brought back correct airspeed indications. Continued on course and assigned altitude.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: SR22 pilot making an emergency descent out of icing conditions noted decreasing airspeed indications followed by an airspeed audible warning. Pilot turned on pitot heat which rectified the airspeed indication problem.

Narrative: Before and during an emergency descent from icing condition and during minor approved deviations for storm cells; PFD was showing slowing airspeed. OAT was -12C. PFD continued to show slower; then stalling airspeed. Speed protection audible callout began. Checked engine and icing; but neither appeared to be a problem. There was no apparent icing on wings. I asked ATC for lower to get below the freezing point and was cleared in steps to 13;000 FT. I clicked off the autopilot for descent to have a better feel for airplane handling. On descent; I clicked on the pitot heat; which shortly thereafter brought back correct airspeed indications. Continued on course and assigned altitude.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.