Air safety report due for release
Operators and pilots tell Transport Canada their concerns

by Glenn Taylor
Northern News Services

NNSL (Nov 10/97) - Does the North have more aircraft accidents than the rest of the country?

A coroner's inquest into the 1993 crash that killed seven people near Tuktoyaktuk gave the North a high profile in the industry.

A report from Transport Canada due later this month may shed more light on whether or not we do have more accidents.

The Safety of Air Taxi Operations (SATOPS) task force met with operators in Inuvik, Yellowknife and Iqaluit earlier this year, as part of a national tour to identify ways to improve safety among air-taxi operations (flights with nine passengers or less).

The North does have its share of accidents, but SATOPS chair Judy Adamson said other air-taxi operations across Canada share the same problem.

"The operating environment is much more severe than in a very structured situation like Air Canada, which is very structured and organized," said Adamson. "We want to reduce those number of accidents."

Armed with suggestions from the industry, the task force completed an interim report in March, which was sent back to operators for review. The final report, due this month, will offer recommendations and implementations.

"The fallout from (the report) will help answer the concerns in the (Tuk crash) coroner's report," said Adamson.

No new regulations will likely result from report, she said. "We want to look at how we can help industry without burdening it with more regulations."

FACT FILE
Making the air safer
Suggestions operators from across Canada gave to the task force to make air taxi operations safer:
Transport Canada inspectors should conduct more random audits and inspections of operators.
Department inspectors should provide more regulatory compliance presence, especially in Northern and remote areas.
Operators or pilots may be pressured into making trips when conditions aren't suitable (such as bad weather, excess cargo, or dangerous goods) because they are concerned about losing the customer to the competition.
Operators and pilots should not be told of the patient's conditions before or during a medevac flight. Such knowledge could pressure people into taking risks in bad weather, etc.
Customers may inadvertently or overtly pressure pilots and operators into making risky flights. Customers should be educated about the hazards associated with unsafe operating practices.
Pilots should be confident that their decision to decline a flight due to bad weather will be supported by management.
Operators are not required to supply flight statistics to Transport Canada. The department wants these statistics to know where accidents are occurring, so accident prevention programs can be allocated.
A brochure or other material should be developed for passengers travelling on float planes, to tell them what to do in the event the aircraft flips during take-off or landing.
Salaries based on pay by the kilometres flown or trips completed can pressure pilots to fly as much as possible. This pressure increases the potential for errors in judgment.