Wings Icing Over

On that same day, Air Florida flight 90 was scheduled to depart almost two hours before it would finally taxi to the runway. The plane had been waiting to take off for over 1 hour and 45 minutes, with 79 passengers and crew on board. But it would still be another 49 minutes before they would finally get the go signal to fly.

Lacking Necessary Experience

To make matters worse, the two pilots on board, Pilot Larry Wheaton and First Officer Roget Pettit were not equipped to deal with flying in the snow, or even cold weather. It was 24 degrees out, and the wings had been icing over and both men believed they needed to get into the air before they were delayed yet again.