Safety infractions documented at grounded airline
MONTREAL – A Quebec City charter airline, grounded following two deadly crashes earlier this year, committed a litany of safety infractions over a nine-year period, according to Transport Canada.
Aeropro was found to have violated safety regulations more than 100 times since 2001, according to documents Transport Canada submitted to a Federal Court this week, where Aeropro is trying to have its operating license reinstated.
Transport Canada revoked Aeropro’s operating license late last month, saying it has “a delinquent history and working culture (that) leads us to conclude that this company has … undermined the safety of passengers, crew members and the public.”
Aeropro came under increased scrutiny after two planes crashed within a month of each other this summer.
On June 23, a Beechcraft King Air plane went down just after takeoff from Quebec City’s airport, killing five passengers and two pilots. An Aeropro Cessna went down on an island east of Quebec City in May, killing four people.
Aeropro is asking the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada to overturn Transport Canada’s decision, saying the department jumped the gun in suspending its permit.
The company serves business clients and tourists and employs 250 people across Quebec.
The documents submitted by Transport Canada date back to February 20, 2001, when an Aeropro plane went down northwest of Montreal.
The pilot was seriously injured in the crash and Transport Canada documents say that he “had not received the required training and did not possess the experience required ... to safely fly using night time instruments.”
Later in 2001, an operations manager was suspended for an “inability to perform his duties in a safe manner.”
On December 19, 2004, an Aeropro plane missed a runway in Gaspe, in eastern Quebec. Transport Canada again blamed the rough landing on inadequate pilot training.
Another Aeropro pilot was killed on April 1, 2007, during a crash on a frozen lake 100 kilometres northeast of Montreal. Transport Canada says Aeropro thought there were two pilots on board when there was, in fact, only one.
Throughout the decade, documents list a total of 115 Aeropro safety infractions.
Industry groups, however, have leapt to Aeropro’s defence, suggesting Transport Canada buckled to public pressure and intense media scrutiny.
A nine-day appeals hearing will be held, beginning on Thursday.
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Transport Canada, Aviation Safety and the Duty of Care
More than 100 safety violations in nine years! What was Transport Canada doing all this time?
In its rush to implement Safety Management Systems, Transport Canada apparently forgot to do more than shuffle paper in its inspection and enforcement of regulations in the aviation industry.
At what cost? How many lives have now been lost, or destroyed, or damaged as a result of the public trusting that our government was providing protection, when in fact it was not?