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'.
It is perhaps America’s most unsafe airport. Despite being the launching point for one of the planes hijacked on 9/11 — Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania — Newark Airport has had numerous security violations since.
The latest: a fake bomb that made it past Transportation Security Administration officers. Here, a Newark TSA screener who recently left the agency tells how silly policies and lazy workers do little to stop real threats:
It's a dark November night at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, and a Learjet 35A is making its way from the general aviation ramp toward its intended departure runway when it is told "«to hold short.»"
Unfamiliar with the airport's layout, however, the flight crew misidentifies the appropriate runway and does not stop—placing them directly in the path of a landing aircraft. Disaster is averted only when the crew of the landing aircraft spots the intruder and manoeuvers to pass behind it.
The Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation after a plane narrowly missed landing on an empty work van that rolled onto the runway at Pearson Airport early this week.
The near-disaster happened at around 11:40 p.m. ET Monday after a worker for Sunwing Airlines left a maintenance van running and in gear outside one of their Boeing 737s.
The U.S. government should reassess its safety approval of the Boeing 787's lithium ion batteries, America's top accident investigator said, casting doubt on whether the airliner's troubles can be remedied quickly.
Switching to a different type of battery would add weight to the plane – and fuel efficiency is one of the 787's main selling points.
Quoting sources that would speak only on the condition of anonymity, the Seattle Times is reporting that hot chemicals sprayed out of the battery on the 787 Dreamliner that made an emergency landing in Japan on Wednesday.
The result was a gooey dark residue left behind that suggests a different malfunction than last week's battery fire in a 787 at Boston's Logan International Airport.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is looking at issues raised by more than one whistleblower as it investigates battery failures that have grounded the global fleet of 50 Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliners for a week.
Michael Leon, one of the whistleblowers, said he spoke with an NTSB investigator this week and gave him extensive materials about his claim that he was fired around six years ago for raising safety concerns about Securaplane Technologies Inc., an Arizona company that makes chargers for the highly flammable lithium-ion batteries at the heart of the probe.
Transport Canada admitted Tuesday it is short of nearly 100 inspectors whose job is to check for safety problems at air carriers. Senior officials acknowledged the department is having a hard time filling all 880 positions, with vacancies currently standing at about 100 inspectors.
Meanwhile, Auditor General Michael Ferguson, also testifying before the House of Commons public accounts committee about oversight of Canada’s civil aviation system, complained Transport Canada’s own national human resources plan does not specify the number of inspectors and engineers that are needed. Ferguson noted the department agreed to provide these figures in response to his office’s 2008 audit, but Transport Canada has still not done so.
Justice Robert Wells, who headed an inquiry investigating safety issues relating to the use of helicopters in the offshore oil industry, issued a challenge to the offshore petroleum board and oil companies operating off Newfoundland on Tuesday.
Wells is asking them to ignore an order by the US aviation authority, and install new gearboxes in existing Cougar S-92 helicopters as soon as they become available. Manufacturer Sikorsky is making changes that would allow its S-92 choppers to fly for 30 minutes after losing oil pressure.
A new proposal by a government-led study group to toughen the rules for combating pilot fatigue is facing stiff opposition from some industry players.
Transport Canada’s aviation regulatory advisory council will convene next week to review proposals by its pilot fatigue management working group to modernize Canada’s regulations. The working group proposes a cap of 112 hours of flight time in a 28-day cycle, down from the current 140 hours. The working group’s co-chairs are also recommending special limits be placed on overnight flying.
