rotornut
23rd Oct 2006, 18:48
Air operator had a year of problems before ban
Firm's violations included faulty equipment and flying on unauthorized routes
Larry Pynn
Vancouver Sun
Monday, October 23, 2006
RICHMOND - International Express Aircharter Ltd., and its related companies experienced scores of safety-related occurrences -- some strange and beyond their control -- in the year leading up to Transport Canada's decision to suspend the operation's licence, federal access-to-information documents show.
The incidents included a tire coming off its wheel, an emergency landing due to a door opening in flight, repeatedly flying low over a coastal town, bird strikes, adopting flight routes not cleared by authorities, and mechanical problems ranging from oil leaks to engine failures resulting in emergency landings.
Three times last year, company pilots reported people roaming around the Tofino airport, including "berry pickers" crossing the runway on Sept. 6, a "survey crew working six inches off" the runway on Sept. 19, and an "unknown cyclist" on the runway on Nov. 14.
Transport Canada suspended the air-operator certificate of International Express, doing business as Sonicblue Airways and Regency Express Flight Operations, on Jan. 22, one day after the crash of a Sonicblue Cessna 208 Caravan single-engine aircraft near Port Alberni that killed the pilot and two passengers.
Two months later, on March 22, Ottawa took further action against the company, cancelling its air operator certificate in the interest of public safety.
International Express appealed the decision to the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada. Tribunal chair Tracy Medve on July 11 referred the matter back to Transport Canada for reconsideration on the grounds the company did not have advance notice and an opportunity to respond to the suspension.
Transport Canada spokesman Rod Nelson said the department has established a three-member team of civil aviation experts from within Transport Canada, but located outside B.C., with no previous involvement with International Express to review the decision to suspend International Express.
The occurrences listed in the federal documents are over and above those violations that led to the suspension of International Express.
But Bill Yearwood, regional manager for the federal Transportation Safety Board, said the occurrences involve the sort of things that can happen to any airline.
"They are not isolated," he said from his Richmond office.
Yearwood added that Tofino is an uncontrolled airport operated by the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District. Pilots are responsible for ensuring it is safe to land.
Animals or other aircraft are more often the issue at such airports rather than people wandering around. "I wouldn't say it's usual," Yearwood said. "But I wouldn't say we've never heard of it, either."
The Sun left a phone message for International Express owner Ranjit Gill of Surrey, but he did not call back.
Tofino airport manager Drew Hadfield could not be reached to comment.
Among the close to 40 other occurrences involving the company in 2005, as listed in the federal reports:
- June 8, Tofino Coast Guard reported a Regency Piper aircraft "making several high and low speed passes" over the Ucluelet townsite and the Coast Guard Radio Station, well below 150 metres -- the minimum distance the pilot should have kept from property unless he was landing or taking off, which isn't suggested in the report;
- Sept. 19, a Regency Piper was towed to its ramp after a tire came off the main wheel in Nanaimo;
- Sept. 29, a Regency Piper pilot declared an emergency, shut down the right engine, and returned to Victoria for a safe landing;
- Oct. 5, a Regency Piper declared an emergency as a result of an engine oil leak, forcing the shutdown of an engine and a forced landing at Vancouver;
- Nov. 9, a student pilot of a Regency Cessna aircraft practising a touch-and-go procedure reported lack of power, aborted take-off, and wound up off the end of the runway at Boundary Bay Airport in Delta.
- Nov. 22, a Regency Piper had departed Victoria when the passenger door popped open. The crew declared an emergency and landed safely. The door had been improperly closed.
The transportation safety board report into the Caravan crash has not yet been released, however the investigation has focused on a broken turbine blade in the engine that might have caused the plane to lose power -- a cause that might have been beyond the company's control.
Families of the crash victims have launched a damage suit in B.C. Supreme Court against various parties, including Sonicblue, engine maker Pratt and Whitney Canada, air-traffic controller NavCanada, and Transport Canada.
Jonathan Huggett, whose pilot son, Ed, died in the Sonicblue crash, obtained the federal documents as part of his continuing struggle to find answers to the crash. He has asked Transport Canada to also provide records of inspections and ramp checks of Sonicblue prior to the crash.
The company's list of infractions since 2002 have included a $5,000 fine for flying with a broken airspeed indicator, $40,000 for operating an illegal commercial air operation, and $2,500 for failing to record a defect in an aircraft journey logbook.
Pilots working for Sonicblue during that same period were fined $200 for flying with a broken airspeed indicator, $200 for not following air traffic control's instructions, $100 for climbing without proper clearance, and handed a three-day suspension for an unsecured load.
The Jan. 21 crash was among six air-taxi accidents in which 14 people died in B.C. over a 13-month period. Ottawa has a separate investigation underway to determine whether there are common causes to the crashes that require regulatory changes.
[email protected]
- - -
KEY DATES
Events around government action against International Express Aircharter Ltd., and its related companies.
Jan. 21, 2006: Sonicblue Cessna 208 Caravan single-engine aircraft crashes near Port Alberni, killing three people.
Jan. 22, 2006: Transport Canada suspends the firm's air-operator certificate.
March 22, 2006: Transport Canada cancels company's certificate.
Current status:
Cancellation is being reviewed on orders of an appeal tribunal.
© The Vancouver Sun 2006
Firm's violations included faulty equipment and flying on unauthorized routes
Larry Pynn
Vancouver Sun
Monday, October 23, 2006
RICHMOND - International Express Aircharter Ltd., and its related companies experienced scores of safety-related occurrences -- some strange and beyond their control -- in the year leading up to Transport Canada's decision to suspend the operation's licence, federal access-to-information documents show.
The incidents included a tire coming off its wheel, an emergency landing due to a door opening in flight, repeatedly flying low over a coastal town, bird strikes, adopting flight routes not cleared by authorities, and mechanical problems ranging from oil leaks to engine failures resulting in emergency landings.
Three times last year, company pilots reported people roaming around the Tofino airport, including "berry pickers" crossing the runway on Sept. 6, a "survey crew working six inches off" the runway on Sept. 19, and an "unknown cyclist" on the runway on Nov. 14.
Transport Canada suspended the air-operator certificate of International Express, doing business as Sonicblue Airways and Regency Express Flight Operations, on Jan. 22, one day after the crash of a Sonicblue Cessna 208 Caravan single-engine aircraft near Port Alberni that killed the pilot and two passengers.
Two months later, on March 22, Ottawa took further action against the company, cancelling its air operator certificate in the interest of public safety.
International Express appealed the decision to the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada. Tribunal chair Tracy Medve on July 11 referred the matter back to Transport Canada for reconsideration on the grounds the company did not have advance notice and an opportunity to respond to the suspension.
Transport Canada spokesman Rod Nelson said the department has established a three-member team of civil aviation experts from within Transport Canada, but located outside B.C., with no previous involvement with International Express to review the decision to suspend International Express.
The occurrences listed in the federal documents are over and above those violations that led to the suspension of International Express.
But Bill Yearwood, regional manager for the federal Transportation Safety Board, said the occurrences involve the sort of things that can happen to any airline.
"They are not isolated," he said from his Richmond office.
Yearwood added that Tofino is an uncontrolled airport operated by the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District. Pilots are responsible for ensuring it is safe to land.
Animals or other aircraft are more often the issue at such airports rather than people wandering around. "I wouldn't say it's usual," Yearwood said. "But I wouldn't say we've never heard of it, either."
The Sun left a phone message for International Express owner Ranjit Gill of Surrey, but he did not call back.
Tofino airport manager Drew Hadfield could not be reached to comment.
Among the close to 40 other occurrences involving the company in 2005, as listed in the federal reports:
- June 8, Tofino Coast Guard reported a Regency Piper aircraft "making several high and low speed passes" over the Ucluelet townsite and the Coast Guard Radio Station, well below 150 metres -- the minimum distance the pilot should have kept from property unless he was landing or taking off, which isn't suggested in the report;
- Sept. 19, a Regency Piper was towed to its ramp after a tire came off the main wheel in Nanaimo;
- Sept. 29, a Regency Piper pilot declared an emergency, shut down the right engine, and returned to Victoria for a safe landing;
- Oct. 5, a Regency Piper declared an emergency as a result of an engine oil leak, forcing the shutdown of an engine and a forced landing at Vancouver;
- Nov. 9, a student pilot of a Regency Cessna aircraft practising a touch-and-go procedure reported lack of power, aborted take-off, and wound up off the end of the runway at Boundary Bay Airport in Delta.
- Nov. 22, a Regency Piper had departed Victoria when the passenger door popped open. The crew declared an emergency and landed safely. The door had been improperly closed.
The transportation safety board report into the Caravan crash has not yet been released, however the investigation has focused on a broken turbine blade in the engine that might have caused the plane to lose power -- a cause that might have been beyond the company's control.
Families of the crash victims have launched a damage suit in B.C. Supreme Court against various parties, including Sonicblue, engine maker Pratt and Whitney Canada, air-traffic controller NavCanada, and Transport Canada.
Jonathan Huggett, whose pilot son, Ed, died in the Sonicblue crash, obtained the federal documents as part of his continuing struggle to find answers to the crash. He has asked Transport Canada to also provide records of inspections and ramp checks of Sonicblue prior to the crash.
The company's list of infractions since 2002 have included a $5,000 fine for flying with a broken airspeed indicator, $40,000 for operating an illegal commercial air operation, and $2,500 for failing to record a defect in an aircraft journey logbook.
Pilots working for Sonicblue during that same period were fined $200 for flying with a broken airspeed indicator, $200 for not following air traffic control's instructions, $100 for climbing without proper clearance, and handed a three-day suspension for an unsecured load.
The Jan. 21 crash was among six air-taxi accidents in which 14 people died in B.C. over a 13-month period. Ottawa has a separate investigation underway to determine whether there are common causes to the crashes that require regulatory changes.
[email protected]
- - -
KEY DATES
Events around government action against International Express Aircharter Ltd., and its related companies.
Jan. 21, 2006: Sonicblue Cessna 208 Caravan single-engine aircraft crashes near Port Alberni, killing three people.
Jan. 22, 2006: Transport Canada suspends the firm's air-operator certificate.
March 22, 2006: Transport Canada cancels company's certificate.
Current status:
Cancellation is being reviewed on orders of an appeal tribunal.
© The Vancouver Sun 2006