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The SafeSkies website focuses on aviation safety issues that affect Canadians, whether flying as passengers or crew, for pleasure or for work, on wide-body jets or single-engine floatplanes.

It was first created to showcase a landmark event: the Aviation Safety Round Table which convened in 2009 on Parliament Hill. The full proceedings of this event are available on this website, including video/audio and transcripts of all of the presentations.

The shocking revelations that emerged at this event galvanized efforts to scrutinize Transport Canada's performance, and to force the department to step up to its regulatory responsibilities.

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Finding of Regulatory Negligence is Possible Against Transport Canada

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Bersenas Jacobsen Chouest Thomson Blackburn LLP – January 26, 2011

On September 15 2005 Robert Honour crashed his helicopter in Duncan, British Columbia, killing himself and his passenger, Chadwick. It appears that the accident was caused, at least in part, by negligent maintenance on the part of the certifying aviation maintenance engineer (AME), as well as the installation of a faulty fuel pump.   Read more...

Ascend: 2010 was a 'Disappointing Year' for Airline Safety

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Perry Flint – January 5th, 2011

The air transport industry experienced a "disappointing" 2010 in terms of fatal accidents and passenger fatalities according to UK-based Ascend, which reported increases in both categories over 2009. The fatal accident rate worsened "from about one per 1.5 million flights overall in 2009 to one per 1.3 million flights last year," while the number of fatal accidents increased 22%, from 23 in 2009 to 28 in 2010.   Read more...

Study Recommends Installing Air Bags on Private Planes

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Andy Pasztor – January 10, 2011

Federal air-safety investigators on Tuesday are slated to issue the first formal government nonbinding recommendations for installing air bags to save lives in private-plane accidents.

The National Transportation Safety Board's groundbreaking study, according to people familiar with the details, is expected to outline the benefits of air bags in reducing fatalities and injuries when small aircraft crash.   Read more...

Tributes to Kirsten Stevens

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The following are a few excerpts from the many tributes received when it was announced that Kirsten Stevens was stepping down for health reasons.

I have greatly admired your skill, dedication and fortitude in seeking answers from Transport Canada for its failure to deal appropriately with the accident in which your husband died, your setting up of your Safe Skies Website and your relentless pursuit of Transport Canada for its many regulatory lapses in assuring the safety of the flying public.   Read more...

Transition Arrangements

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Kirsten Stevens' retirement from aviation safety advocacy work leaves a void that will be difficult to fill: there may be no-one else in Canada with the knowledge, willingness – and the time – to take over Kirsten's role completely.

However, it may be possible to continue some of this valuable work if the load is shared between a few people. I will be working to ease the transition and to help coordinate any next steps.

I would like to hear from anyone who is prepared to help by:   Read more...

Aviation Safety Advocate Kirsten Stevens Steps Down

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David Hutton – November 17, 2010

It was with great regret that we learned recently that one of Canada’s leading citizen advocates for aviation safety, Kirsten Stevens, is stepping down from this work indefinitely for health reasons.

Following the tragic death of her husband in a floatplane crash in 2005, Kirsten began meticulously researching the air taxi/floatplane industry in an effort to understand what happened and to achieve closure. What she learned – and the abject failure of the authorities to provide answers or even to fulfill their responsibilities – transformed her into a committed advocate for improved aviation safety.   Read more...

TRAN Day 2: Traditional Safety Checks Depend on Extra Resources

By Sarah Schmidt, Canwest News Service
April 1, 2010 4:32 PM

OTTAWA — Despite assurances from the top brass at Transport Canada that the government will step up safety checks at airlines, newly released instructions to inspectors says this will only happen if there are extra resources available in any given year.

Transport Canada's staff instructions on "surveillance procedures," tabled Thursday at parliamentary hearings into aviation safety in Canada, reveal that traditional forms of oversight, such as inflight inspections, ramp inspections during day-to-day operations and aircraft inspections, are to be considered discretionary and contingent on resources.   Read more...

TRAN Day 1: Transport Canada Promises More Oversight

By Sarah Schmidt, Canwest News Service
March 30, 2010 1:38 PM 

  Top officials at Transport Canada on Tuesday vowed to step up oversight at major airlines after admitting government inspectors did fewer spot safety checks in the last few years.

"We haven't done as much surveillance activities as we wanted to do, but that will change in the next three years," Marc Gregoire, assistant deputy minister of safety and security, told MPs at the launch of parliamentary hearings into aviation safety in Canada.   Read more...

CBC Examines Pilot Fatigue: March 24 to 26

Exhausted Pilots, Fatal Accidents and Outdated Air Industry Regulations are Examined in a CBC News Exclusive Investigation
March 24-26 On CBC

Pilot fatigue. No amount of training or experience can compensate for a pilot who is flying while severely sleep deprived or who has worked excessive hours without rest. And while this problem only makes headlines when tragedy strikes, it may be happening more often than you realize. Dead Tired, a CBC News investigation, sheds light on this dangerous circumstance and asks if Canadian regulators are doing enough to ensure pilots aren’t flying exhausted behind the controls. What the investigation reveals will shock you.

THE NATIONAL – Wednesday, March 24 and Friday, March 26 on CBC Television at 10 p.m. (10:30 NT), and on CBC News Network at 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET/PT.    Read more...

SafeSkies Newsletter Vol.2, No. 2

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SAFESKIES NEWSLETTER
Volume 2, No. 2

http://safeskies.ca

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March 19, 2010

In this Issue

  • Latest News from SafeSkies
  • Industry News
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