Peeved pilot says landing float planes causing scare
Former aviator says aircraft are breaking speed limits during open-water season, causing close calls with Jolliffe Island residents
Evan Kiyoshi French
Northern News Services
Friday, December 4, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Although water bodies are now iced over, one pilot is sounding the alarm on a more fair-weather issue.
Former aviator Ray Weber said float planes landing and taking off within harbour limits during open-water season are breaking marine laws but aren't being ticketed.
The Latham Island resident said the posted limit within the harbour is five knots but float planes taking off or landing at speeds between 50 and 75 knots are breaking the law. He said there's been at least one death and a number of near misses and thinks it's time airlines operating within Yellowknife Bay slowed down.
He recently watched a woman trying to launch a canoe with a toddler on board, saying a Twin Otter roared past her at high speed, pushing a wake that nearly tipped her craft.
"She was just able to get it around before the wave hit her," he said.
On another occasion, Weber said he watched a woman bail out of a small boat as a Twin Otter droned toward her on the water.
"The pilot reversed his engines and he stopped before hitting her," he said. "But still, she was swimming."
He said when the woman's husband chastised the pilot for nearly running down his wife, the pilot shrugged off the criticism and nothing came of it.
Kim Zenko, chief pilot for Summit Air, said he's heard a complaint about high-speed taxiing from a pilot last summer.
"I just think it's kind of a little cause he's taken up and I'm not sure why," he said. "As a pilot, he would have a good idea of why we manoeuvre the way we do down on the float base. Our policy is to be very respectful of other users. The only reason we would be taxiing at a speed higher than the five-knot limit is out of total necessity.
"The beautiful part of the area down there is it's been a float base quite a bit longer than it's been a parking area for houseboat users. It's a pretty good natural spot to land and take off."
He said prevailing winds dictate where pilots land and take off and on occasion they have to take off close to Jolliffe Island.
"Just because of the way the winds are going. We have to give way to pretty much everyone else," he said.
"We do have a very commanding view. We can see every piece of traffic that's in the area, right down to small canoes and paddle boards."
Still, there have been serious accidents resulting from aircraft landing on Great Slave Lake, which Zenko acknowledged has included a death.
In 1982, sailor Nick Martin was killed when his craft was clipped by a passing aircraft near Latham Island.
In September 2002, a near miss between a plane and a canoeist on Back Bay prompted a Transport Canada review. Margaret Ferguson was canoeing on Great Slave Lake on Aug. 6 of that year when a Cessna-185 nearly hit her.
A representative for the Coast Guard which is responsible for ticketing watercraft speeders did not respond to requests for comment before press time.
All of the pilots operating on the bay are diligent in keeping an eye out for other craft, said Zenko, and in keeping their speeds under the limit.
He thinks boaters break the five-knot rule far more frequently, he said.
"They run through there at 10 to 12 knots or at whatever speed they want to go through," he said. "They're a fairly small group. But for us, that's kind of a pain. If the guys are out there working on the engines as the planes are sitting by the shore, they're jumping out as the big waves come in. As pilots, we know what the consequences are of big wakes and we really try to avoid causing anybody problems when it comes to that."
A representative for Air Tindi could not be reached by press time.
