Date: 201503
Local time of day: 0601-1200
Location: EWR.Airport, NJ
Flight conditions: VMC
Light: Dawn
Aircraft: Regional Jet 200 ER/LR (CRJ200)
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Taxi
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: First Officer; Pilot Not Flying
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Human factors: Situational Awareness
Anomaly: Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown
Detector: Person Flight Crew
When detected: Aircraft In Service At Gate
Result: Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Contributing factors: Equipment / Tooling; Human Factors
Primary problem: Ambiguous

Narrative: After arriving at the aircraft my First Officer (FO) informed me we would need to de-ice after completing his walk around.  The FO contacted dispatch to coordinate the de-icing prior to push back.  We were informed we would be de-iced after push back prior to taxi.  All checklists and procedures up to and including the Engines on APU Off de-ice checklist were accomplished without issue.  The de-ice supervisor approached the aircraft on foot and connected his headset to the forward mechanic call communication jack at the right forward nose of the aircraft. The FO informed the supervisor we were configured 'engine's on APU off; type one only'.  The deice crew brought two trucks over; one person exited one truck climbed into the bucket of the other truck.  I noticed the exhaust from the deice engine on the truck start and they began deicing the left wing.  I noticed the fluid exiting the truck was cold; no steam coming from the fluid or emitting from the wing once applied.  I flashed the wing taxi lights at the truck to obtain their attention as they were not communicating with us.  The supervisor reattached via the mechanic call connection on the nose of the aircraft.We informed him the fluid coming from the truck was cold.  The supervisor made contact with the de-ice crew who stopped deicing.  Another truck soon showed up and they restarted the deicing procedure at the left wing.  Once the deicing truck moved to the right wing the deice supervisor once again connected to the mechanic call jack and informed us deicing was complete.  We asked him who performed the tactile check to which he replied he did.  This was impossible as the wing was still being deiced. We contacted Operations to warn another company aircraft who was waiting in the hardstand area to reposition there aircraft to our gate who would also need to be deiced.  They said they too saw no steam coming from our aircraft or the deice fluid and thanked us for the heads up.Deice crews appeared to be ill prepared to start deicing procedures at 0600 local time and/or lacked properly working equipment and/or training.




Synopsis: After configuring the aircraft and checking in with the de-ice supervisor; a CRJ200 Captain notes that no steam is rising from the Type I fluid as it is being applied. The process is stopped and another truck is summoned with heated fluid. It is also noted that a tactile check is not accomplished when the Supervisor reports the process complete.