Air Safety Round Table: Mark Tayfel
Mark Tayfel is a former pilot who was involved in an accident in 2002. Aircraft accidents are supposed to be fully investigated by the Transportation Safety Board before any other parties (such as the coroner or Transport Canada) take any action. However, in this case the local police (with no aviation expertise) got involved and launched criminal proceedings against Tayfel, thus pre-empting and undermining the TSB's expert investigation and setting a dangerous precedent.
Remarks
(Video 7:41)
I have been involved in aviation in various capacities for 20 years.
I hold an Airline Transport Pilot Licence, flight instructor rating, have worked as a pilot for an air taxi operator and currently am a flight dispatcher in Calgary. I have over 3500 hours flying time, mainly in light twin aircraft.
In June 2002 while working for an air taxi operator, I was involved in an aircraft accident. All on board including myself were injured and one of my passengers subsequently died from his injuries.
What is unique to this accident is that the police investigated it from the onset. They ran a parallel investigation to the TSB and TC Enforcement. Subsequently, I was arrested, charged and convicted for my actions relating to this accident. From my understanding, this is the first case of its kind in Canada. I am the only pilot in Canada that has been charged criminally for involvement in an aircraft accident.
Based on my experience, I am concerned with is how the criminal prosecution of pilots or other aviation professionals will affect aviation safety. Its my belief a safe aviation system requires open dialogue between the aviation industry and the TSB and TCCA. My case was a first of its kind in Canada where a pilot was charged in an aviation accident. My fear is that cooperation with the TSB and TCCA will stop in accident investigations, as individuals will now fear criminal prosecution. The TSB relies on full cooperation of individuals involved in accidents to learn the underlying causes and prevent reoccurrence. If the police are now going to ride on the coat tails of a TSB investigation, I can see this cooperation fading away in Canada. The end result will delay investigation findings and put the travelling public at risk till the matter is resolved.
I am not saying there should not be repercussions for individuals or operators that break the rules, Just that the repercussions are best decided by Transport Canada as opposed to the criminal courts. Transport Canada has a means in place to deter infractions such as licence suspensions or fines. I don't think this type of enforcement action will stop us from cooperating with Regulators to improve safety in Canada. What will stop this cooperation is the threat of spending a couple years in jail if the courts have their way.
The courts do their best to understand our industry using expert witnesses, but they will never have the full understanding of aviation human factors and pilot decision making. Transport Canada and the TSB are in a better position to decide how enforcement action may affect Aviation safety. In rare cases, if the matter is serious enough, TCCA can hand the matter over to the police. I think it crucial to aviation safety that the police are not involved in accident investigation till an initial assessment is done by Transport Canada.
How will Criminal prosecution affect SMS? It is my belief SMS will be affected the same way a TSB investigation is affected. SMS relies on a reporting and evaluation system free of repercussions. Individuals need to know their contribution to a Safety Management System will not be used against them in any matter. Furthermore, any documentation used in SMS reporting should be granted the same privileges as TSB documents and internal investigations. They should not be allowed as evidence in a criminal court room.
I believe SMS is a good thing and will be effective in Airline operations and other operators that have a history of a safety minded culture. These operators usually have in place the infrastructure of large support groups such as ALPA, ACPA and the CBAA.
Air taxi operators and the employees that work for them do not have this support structure in place. I believe the large portion of pilots and other aviation professionals currently not represented by a professional organization would benefit being taken under the wing of these groups. A professional organization can set standards for training, and guide individuals and companies to improve safety and security. These groups also serve to represent individuals in labour relations and as an advocate in government relations.
The Air taxi industry has the worst safety record of all the sectors of the aviation industry. We must not assume that SMS will be a fix for 703 operators. The Air taxi industry needs to be closely monitored by government oversight and not left to self regulate until such time as their safety record is on par with other commercial operators.
