January 13, 1982, saw 6.5 inches of snow fall on Washington, D.C. In spite of the foul weather, officials at National Airport decided to open the airport to traffic around noon. One of the outbound flights that afternoon was Air Florida Flight 90, which would stop in Tampa before reaching its final destination in Fort Lauderdale. Even though the temperature was below freezing, the pilots did not activate the engines’ de-icing systems. The co-pilot repeatedly relayed instrument warnings to the captain, who was convinced that all conditions were fine. But…
