Narrative:

During an event where ice was adhering to the engine aft of engine inlets up to and including bottom portion of engine inlet and including the fan blades; it was discovered that there is no written guidance on how to remove said contaminants prior to engine start. At [my previous airline] we had guidance on using jet bridge heat inside engine inlets and/or utilizing type 1 fluid to remove contaminants prior to engine start. The following is the only guidance provided in reference to said issue but nowhere is there approved written guidance. This might have been [an] overlooked omission. The following are references: • during preflight checks 'ensure all protective covers are removed; and the following areas are clear of ice; snow and frost ... Engine inlets; inlet lips; fans; spinners; fan exhaust ducts; and reverser assemblies' however there is no guidance or SOP listed as to what is an approved method to remove said contamination. • [The operations manual] states the obvious about captain's responsibility for 'ensuring aircraft surfaces and components are clear of adhering frozen contamination.' • [the manual further] states 'engine power may be reduced by...ingestion of ice shredding from other parts of the aircraft.' in this case it was needed to find a method; upon reaching out to my resources [operations] didn't know of any procedures either. Upon speaking with chief pilot; who has past experience on this fleet type; we were in agreement that the only solution was with [operations] concurrence to utilize type 1 to remove 3/16 of ice buildup that was accumulated during taxi in during severe weather and contaminated runways/taxiway conditions in cle. This sounds like common sense but we thrive on written procedures and recommend a review of past 'practices' and making this into a procedure that we can all find and utilize during line operations. Suggestions: review; establish; and publish a new procedure to address the issue of removing ice in engine inlets prior to engine start.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ERJ-190 Captain reported there is no guidance in the Operations Manual on how to deal with ice in the engine cowl aft of the inlets.

Narrative: During an event where ice was adhering to the engine aft of engine inlets up to and including bottom portion of engine inlet and including the fan blades; it was discovered that there is NO written guidance on how to remove said contaminants prior to engine start. At [my previous airline] we had guidance on using jet bridge heat inside engine inlets and/or utilizing type 1 fluid to remove contaminants prior to engine start. The following is the only guidance provided in reference to said issue but nowhere is there approved written guidance. This might have been [an] overlooked omission. The following are references: • During preflight checks 'Ensure all protective covers are removed; and the following areas are clear of ice; snow and frost ... engine inlets; inlet lips; fans; spinners; fan exhaust ducts; and reverser assemblies' however there is no guidance or SOP listed as to what is an approved method to remove said contamination. • [The Operations Manual] states the obvious about Captain's responsibility for 'ensuring aircraft surfaces and components are clear of adhering frozen contamination.' • [The manual further] states 'Engine power may be reduced by...ingestion of ice shredding from other parts of the aircraft.' In this case it was needed to find a method; upon reaching out to my resources [Operations] didn't know of any procedures either. Upon speaking with Chief Pilot; who has past experience on this fleet type; we were in agreement that the only solution was with [Operations] concurrence to utilize type 1 to remove 3/16 of ice buildup that was accumulated during taxi in during severe weather and contaminated runways/taxiway conditions in CLE. This sounds like common sense but we thrive on written procedures and recommend a review of past 'practices' and making this into a procedure that we can all find and utilize during line operations. Suggestions: review; establish; and publish a new procedure to address the issue of removing ice in engine inlets prior to engine start.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.