Upon checking the Weather Underground site it appears that we shall be landing in snow at MSP Friday evening - 40% probability, that is. I've never been on a flight under these conditions. I know that planes must often be deiced before takeoff as heavy snow could cause landing problems. I suppose that snow buildup only occurs near landing altitude so it should be alright. But what if the plane has to circle for awhile before landing? Do they just try to land somewhere else or what? I must be crazy to go on this trip in December. Thanks to anyone who would take the time to calm me down a bit!

Living in DEN, I have had my fair share of being in holding patterns because of thunderstorms in the summer or snowstorms in the winter. I have been on planes that have been struck by lightning and had aborted landings dozens of feet from touchdown. None of those incidents have lowered my faith in the airplanes and the folks in the cockpit.

Not de-icing will cause problems seconds after, if not right at takeoff.

If you're in a holding pattern, you'll be circling above the cloud layer.

All planes have de-icing mechanisms on the wings, ready to use during the flight.

If you're unable to land at MSP, it will be likely be because of one of two issues. One being visibility issues, second being a lack of fuel if you are in holding pattern too long.

Even if it was four feet of snow to fall at MSP, you're still more likely to get injured on the way to the airport before flying.

You'll be just fine. Really.

That could happen in a low fuel situation (it's happened to me twice). In both cases, my destination airports shut down, and we circled hoping they would open up. When we got low on fuel, we were diverted to alternate airports. A JFK flight was diverted to Stewart, and an ORD flight was diverted to Des Moines. That's 2 flights in well over 1.5 million miles of flying. I think the odds are with you that you'll land on time, as scheduled.

The last two winters I did a bunch of mileage runs into MSP (like -20 every trip I got there) and OMA. Never a problem, even with snow coming down about every other trip. Just watch the weather reports. Your only concern should be if a major storm is coming through, in which case your carrier may let you reschedule to before or after the storm.

Why is this in TS/S Forum???

I guess it's under the safety aspect - the OP wanted to make sure he would get a SAFE landing in MSP. I think it's understandable why he posted it here.

MSP is an airport that copes very well with snow. Several times in winter I have been scheduled on American Airlines flights through ORD. Once a few particles of precipitation are spotted, ORD flips out, resulting in delays and cancellations throughout the country. Northwest Airlines, on the other hand, landed on time in MSP every flight I took that winter. On the final leg, into Green Bay, ground crews spent time deicing the airliner, which invariably took off without any problems and landed on time. Once a blizzard was raging in Green Bay. I did not realize until the snowfall ended the next morning that the Hilton Garden Inn where I stayed was just down the street from Lambeau Field.

Rest assured, MSP can handle weather.

de-icing is only an issue right after takeoff. All plans have de-icing heaters built into the wings. Planes can land in snow and covered in ice -i've been in a couple of landings in northern scandinavia on occasion..

Part of the problem with ORD is the nutty runway configuration and the very high number of hourly arrivals/departures thanks to two hub airlines. Anytime you get low visibility, the runway configuration usually pulls the average arrival rate wayyyy down and that dominoes to the delays.

Thanks to one hub airline and simple parallel runways, MSP handles this business much better.

Just got into MSP a couple hours ago, some light chop for the final 20 minutes of the flight but nothing to write home about. Only flurrying--and barely--right now. Happy flying.