Regional Jet 200 ER/LR (CRJ200)
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Training / Qualification
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Aircraft; Human Factors; Weather
We pushed back and light freezing rain was falling. Aircraft had accumulated a substantial amount of ice and snow since it sat overnight. We requested type I and IV fluid. De-icing crew had to spray twice with type 1 to remove all the contaminants. I then noticed that they had sprayed the left wing with type IV; but I had not seen them do a tactile check before applying type IV. I asked the de-icing crew if they had done the check and they said they had not; but would be doing it after type IV was applied. I informed them that it needed to be done before the type IV was applied and I had them remove the type IV from the wing and reapply it after doing a tactile check. Besides being proper procedure; I feel that the tactile check was crucial before applying type 4 to make sure that no ice would be under the type 4 fluid due to the light freezing rain falling at the time. Ground crews need to be better trained in the de-icing of our aircraft.
CRJ200 Captain reports the de-ice crew not performing a tactile check after deicing with type I fluid and prior to applying type IV fluid. The process is repeated with the missing step included.