Commercial Fixed Wing
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine
Training / Qualification
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
General Flight Cancelled / Delayed
Company Policy; Procedure
After arriving at the airport a Person X told us there was frost on the aircraft that would require deicing. He was not the deice coordinator but the deice coordinator was there and confirmed the need. After we got to the aircraft the First Officer did the exterior preflight inspection and returned to the flight deck. He reported that the Person X we spoke to upon arrival said we could do the deicing at the deice pad with engines running. He told the First Officer that tests have shown there enough overspray when spraying the wings to adequately remove the frost from the props. A short time later the deice coordinator came to the flight deck and we discussed that I would be shutting the engines down to complete the process. He agreed and the flight continued with the process and departed.I have not been able to verify the engine running procedure as described. We did not find a provision in the deice section of the FOM. I consulted the fleet manager and a couple other pilots to ask if there was a procedure as described by the Person X. None had heard of this procedure. My concern is that; while well intended; the influence from Person X could result in a newer Captain accepting the procedure. My First Officer was clear that the person indicated the procedure had been tested and found to be acceptable. My recommendation is to educate the Person X that this is not an acceptable method of deicing the props; but also that trying to influence a pilot to accept a non-standard procedure could have disastrous results.My intention here is NOT to get somebody in any kind of a discipline situation but rather to insure we are all on the same page when formulating the proper course of action.
Captain reported station ground personnel pressured him to accept nonstandard procedures for deicing; resulting in a possible procedural deviation.