Aviation safety

Transport watchdog flags air, train and marine safety issues

Topics: 
Aviation safety, Transport Canada, TSB, Regulatory oversight, Watchdogs
Rating: 
4

Sarah Schmidt – June 14, 2012

The federal transport safety watchdog said Thursday she has seen "little or no change" in critical air-safety issues, including runway overruns and aircraft-landing accidents.

Wendy Tadros, chairwoman of the Transportation Safety Board, first flagged these issues in 2010 when the board released its inaugural safety watchlist. They remain on this year's watchlist alongside a new issue highlighting Transport Canada's weak oversight of smaller aviation companies while they transition to safety-management systems (SMS), with "some companies not even required to have one," the report says.

Air Canada adds pilot to one leg of long-haul route - but not to the other

Topics: 
Aviation safety
Rating: 
0

Sarah Schmidt – June 19, 2012

Canada's largest airline has added a pilot to one of its major international routes after the company was hit with complaints from its own pilots about fatigue, Postmedia News has learned.

The addition of a fourth pilot on all Air Canada flights from Hong Kong to Vancouver reverses the airline's "unilateral decision" in April to operate all flights between the cities with a three-pilot crew, according to an internal newsletter of the Air Canada Pilots Association obtained by Postmedia News.

Taking air safety complaints seriously

Topics: 
Aviation safety, USA, Regulatory oversight
Rating: 
2

Editorial Board – May 14, 2012

According to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) whistleblowers, air traffic controllers in the New York area have slept on the job, left shifts early and used personal electronic gadgets while working in the control room.

Emergency service helicopters have been inadequately equipped with night-vision systems, potentially interfering with pilots’ ability to read instruments. Unauthorized aircraft have entered U.S. airspace near Puerto Rico. Inconsistent runway rules at the Detroit airport have caused planes to come too close together during takeoff and landing.

US government watchdog blasts FAA over air safety

Topics: 
Aviation safety, USA, Office of Special Counsel, Watchdogs
Rating: 
0

Bart Jansen – May 8, 2012

The government's special counsel Tuesday urged stronger air safety oversight by the Federal Aviation Administration after investigating a series of problems laid out by whistle-blowers in recent years, including air-traffic controllers sleeping on the job.

"The public properly expects zero tolerance for unnecessary risks," said Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner, whose independent office reviews whistle-blower complaints and protects them.

Expert panel urges action to reduce float plane fatalities

Topics: 
Aviation safety, Transport Canada, Regulatory oversight
Rating: 
0

Coroners service report studied four crashes

Larry Pynn – May 2, 2012

Transport Canada should require float plane passengers and crew to wear flotation devices during flights and planes should have rapid-escape emergency exits, said a sweeping B.C. Coroners Service report Tuesday aimed at reducing deaths in commercial float planes.

A special panel of experts prepared the report after closely investigating four crashes that killed 23 people over a five-year period.The panel also recommended Transport Canada require satellite tracking systems to locate crash sites faster, underwater egress training for flight crews, and illumination strips identifying emergency exits.

Pilot fatigue to blame for Air Canada dipping incident

Topics: 
Aviation safety, Transport Canada, TSB, Regulatory oversight
Rating: 
0

Bradley Bouzane and Sarah Schmidt – April 16, 2012

A fatigued, napping Air Canada co-pilot who awoke, wrongly believed his flight was on a collision course and pushed the plane sharply downward, is to blame for a January 2011 incident that left 16 injured, the Transportation Safety Board reported Monday.

Pilot fatigue, listed as the cause of the incident involving an overnight flight from Toronto to Zurich, has dogged Transport Canada for years, and safety advocates seized on the report to press Canada to update its "significantly deficient" flight and duty times regulations that take into account people's circadian rhythm and address time-of-day sensitivities.

Pilot fatigue cited in Air Canada in-flight incident

Topics: 
Aviation safety, Transport Canada, TSB, Videos, Regulatory oversight
Rating: 
4

CBC News – April 16, 2012

A terrifying incident on an Air Canada flight from Toronto to Zurich last year took place because a pilot abruptly pushed the Boeing 767 into a dive shortly after waking up from an approved nap, says a report released today by Canada's Transportation Safety Board.

The report details what happened on Air Canada Flight 878 several hours after it left Toronto for Zurich on Jan 13, 2011. The report also finds several factors, including pilot fatigue, contributed to the incident that sent seven passengers to hospital in Switzerland.

Air safety plagued by old issues

Topics: 
Aviation safety, Transport Canada, Regulatory oversight
Rating: 
0

Tara Carman – April 4, 2012

Crashes into trees, mountains and man-made structures and runway overruns are two types of accidents that continue to occur despite TSB recommendations on how to avoid them.

"We find safety issues where we've made recommendations in the past," Tadros said. "So we know from very hard experience that if those safety issues aren't addressed, there will be another accident. It's as simple as that."

Government air-safety lapses scarier than F-35 cock-up

Topics: 
Aviation safety, Transport Canada, SMS, Regulatory oversight
Rating: 
3

Thomas Walkom – April 4, 2012

The most dramatic revelation from Canada’s auditor general is the story of the F-35 cock-up. No question. But the most worrying — and telling — portion of Tuesday’s report by Michael Ferguson is his description of the Conservative government’s chillingly casual approach to air safety.

Casual because this government has no use for regulation and is going out of its way to cut what it calls red tape. Chilling because when governments don’t bother to regulate air safety, planes crash.

Transport Canada not up to speed on airline safety inspections

Topics: 
Aviation safety, Transport Canada, SMS, Regulatory oversight
Rating: 
0

Sarah Schmidt – April 3, 2012

Transport Canada failed to conduct planned inspections of about 500 airlines and other aviation companies that could be ``higher risk'' operations, Canada's auditor general found. Michael Ferguson's audit outlined "significant weaknesses'' in the department's surveillance activities in civil aviation.

Overall, the problems at Transport Canada mean the department, charged with ensuring airlines comply with Canada's air safety regulations, is not adequately managing its oversight of airline safety risks.

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