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Floatplane Crash Revives Memories - ATV News

Submitted by dhc2widow on Mon, 11/30/2009 - 23:07
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Kirsten Stevens, ATV News

A-News, Vancouver Island
November 30, 2009

CAMPBELL RIVER - The crash of a DeHavilland Beaver Sunday on Saturna Island is reviving memories for several Campbell River families who lost loved ones in a float plane tragedy nearly five years ago off of Quadra Island. 

Five men were killed when a floatplane bound for a logging camp crashed shortly after taking off from the Campbell River spit in February of 2005. Only one mans remains were ever found from the crash leaving grieving families searching for answers.   Read more...

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'Pushing paper' trumps safety under new aviation rules, MPs told - SCOTIC Report

Submitted by dhc2widow on Mon, 11/30/2009 - 20:25
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Inspectors union cites shoddy wiring, faulty parts, hazardous refuelling practices and iced wings in condemning Transport Canada's latest oversight system

Daniel Slunder & Christine Collins - CBC Power & Politics

Tu Thanh Ha and Bill Curry
Toronto and Ottawa — The Globe and Mail
Last updated on Monday, Nov. 30, 2009 6:27PM EST

A plane with a hotwired instrument panel and electrical cords held with masking tape. Another repaired with Canadian Tire parts. An Air Canada plane refuelling with the engines running and taking off with ice on the wings.

Those horror stories were presented to a House of Commons hearing today as the aviation inspectors union condemned Canada's new aviation oversight system.   Read more...

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Transport Canada Delays SMS Implementation - National Post Story

Submitted by dhc2widow on Sun, 11/29/2009 - 18:05
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Transport Canada delays new airline-safety system

Sarah Schmidt, Canwest News Service
Published: Sunday, November 29, 2009


OTTAWA -- Transport Canada is delaying the introduction of a controversial safety-inspection system at smaller commercial airlines after being inundated with concerns from its own staff about problems with the oversight regime, according to an internal memorandum.   Read more...

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SCOTIC to Hear Witnesses on November 30th

Submitted by dhc2widow on Sat, 11/28/2009 - 16:01
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Meeting No. 39 
Monday, November 30, 2009
3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Room 308, West Block 
(613-992-1147)


Orders of the Day


1. Transport Canada's Enforcement of Air Safety Regulations and Implementation of Safety Management Systems for the Aviation Industry


Witnesses

3:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.

Department of Transport

Marc Grégoire, Assistant Deputy Minister
Safety and Security Group

Martin J Eley, Director General
Civil Aviation

4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.   Read more...

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Air Safety on CFRA Radio

Submitted by dhc2widow on Sun, 11/22/2009 - 19:38
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On November 22nd, Nick Vandergragt of "Sunny Side Nick", CFRA Radio (CHUM/Ottawa), hosted a two hour slot devoted to air safety and featuring Kirsten Stevens of SafeSkies and Allan Cutler of Canadians for Accountability.   Read more...

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Too Tired for Takeoff (Globe & Mail)

Submitted by dhc2widow on Fri, 11/20/2009 - 12:24

Amid international push for new aviation standards, critics say Canada not doing enough to keep tired pilots out of the cockpit

By Tu Thanh Ha

Globe and Mail
Last updated on Friday, Nov. 20, 2009 4:58AM EST
 

On a June evening in 2005, Air Canada Jazz Flight 8105 was carrying 64 passengers from Houston to Calgary when, just after crossing the border, the plane began to vibrate.   Read more...

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TSB Cites SMS Oversight in Another 2007 Accident

Submitted by dhc2widow on Tue, 11/10/2009 - 23:00

By THE CANADIAN PRESS
10th November 2009

GATINEAU, Que. — Ineffective oversight of safety regulations was a key factor behind a jet crash two years ago in Nova Scotia that left 10 people injured, including Tim Hortons co-founder Ron Joyce, the Transportation Safety Board concludes in a final report Tuesday.

The independent agency found private aircraft operators regulated by the Canadian Business Aviation Association were not held to the same standard as commercial airlines regulated by Transport Canada.   Read more...

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UCTE Recommends SMS Changes to Transport Minister

Submitted by dhc2widow on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 20:26
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November 4, 2009

OTTAWA – Today the Union of Canadian Transportation Employees (UCTE) released a report that is critical of the way in which Transport Canada is implementing its Aviation Safety Management System.  In a report entitled, “Implementation of the Transport Canada Aviation Safety Management System – What’s Not Right and Why Change is Necessary” , UCTE shows how Transport Canada’s brand of SMS goes beyond that of other industrialized countries and beyond what the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) considers to be recommended practices.    Read more...

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UCTE Testifies to Standing Committee on Finance

Submitted by dhc2widow on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 00:00
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On October 29th, 2009 the National President of the Union Of Canadian Transportation Employees (UCTE), Christine Collins, testified before the Standing Committee on Finance.

Ms. Collins' presentation included criticism of Transport Canada's implementation of Safety Management Systems (SMS), citing 130 current vacancies of the 871 currently funded inspector positions, and estimates to reduce the air safety and security budget by 12.5% this fiscal year and 12.3% in the next fiscal year.    Read more...

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Dennis Bevington Presents Motion to SCOTIC

Submitted by dhc2widow on Tue, 10/20/2009 - 00:00
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What follows is the text of NDP Transport Critic Dennis Bevington's presentation on his motion to the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities which took place on October 19th, 2009.   Read more...

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