Transport Canada

Aviation Safety in Canada

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The evidence of a decline in aviation safety in Canada comes from many sources: from industry experts; pilots, mechanics and their unions; accident investigations; and reports by investigative journalists.

The picture that emerges is a disturbing one: an industry where staff and insiders often fear to travel on their own companies' planes, and a system which increasingly looks like 'an accident looking for someplace to happen'.

Expert panel urges action to reduce float plane fatalities

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

Auditor General criticizes Transport Canada’s oversight

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Bruce Campion-Smith – April 3, 2012

A federal watchdog is raising a red flag about Transport Canada’s oversight of aviation safety, warning that inspections aren’t being done and that bureaucrats drag their feet to correct safety issues.

While Transport Canada requires yearly inspections, 70 per cent of aviation companies in Canada were not inspected in 2010-2011, Auditor General Michael Ferguson warns in a report released Tuesday.

Helicopter safety problem persists 3 years after crash

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CBC News – March 10, 2012

The wife of one of the 17 offshore oil industry workers who died three years ago today when a Cougar helicopter crashed southeast of Newfoundland is renewing calls to improve offshore chopper safety in the province.

"It makes me angry, and there are times when it makes me really angry,” said Lori Chynn, whose husband, John, was aboard the Sikorsky model S-92a that lost oil pressure shortly after takeoff and plunged into the ocean mid-morning on March 12, 2009.

Flight policy change called a risky manoeuvre

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Rick Wolsey crash

CBC News – November 9, 2011

A new safety approach aimed at getting airlines to police themselves could endanger passengers, particularly those flying with smaller airlines, aviation experts warn.

In 2005, Transport Canada began changing over to a system that critics say essentially left airlines to regulate themselves, instead of primarily relying on federal inspectors to oversee airplane safety as they had before.

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