Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Situational Awareness; Human-Machine Interface
Inflight Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Flight Crew Regained Aircraft Control
Airport; Weather; Human Factors
The aircraft briefly encountered a period of loss of braking and/or directional control on an icy taxiway during the turn onto the departure runway after being cleared for takeoff. Speed going into the turn was below 10 knots. The first sign of loss of control was lack of steering response. Directional and steering control was regained after a brief application of idle reverse thrust. Fortunately; the aircraft remained on the taxiway during the brief encounter. The Tower was notified of the area of poor/nil braking. The flight proceeded normally thereafter. One contributing factor to the encounter was my self induced time pressure to ensure our takeoff would be accomplished before our deicing/anti-icing holdover time would expire; considering the number of aircraft observed lining up for final approach for landing on the runway we would be using for takeoff. Upon reflection; I believe a few knots slower in the turn might have avoided the encounter altogether. Lesson (re)learned? Haste makes waste!
A319 Captain experiences a momentary loss of control on an icy taxiway while turning on to the runway for takeoff.