Sweeping condemnation of Transport Canada's approach to aviation safety
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That was an excellent post J.O. and I have no problem with what you said.
However in that I have observed the oversight of the industry by Transport Canada for over fifty years it is my opinion that it has gone from bad to worse.
Also may I suggest that there is a big difference between airline and corporate aviation and the air taxi / bush operators.
There are many examples of companies that not only cut corners and ignore the rules but their company culture is to intimidate their employees to either go along with that culture or be out of a job. Never, ever, have I seen an instance where a pilot or engineer could go to TCCA with evidence of wrongdoing by a company and have TCCA step in and fix the problem and protect the rights of said people......never ever...
It was that way fifty years ago and I see no improvement in today's world, in fact I believe that not only is it worse but with SMS it is letting the fox guard the chicken house in that sector of aviation.
Granted as you describe the vast majority of companies recognize and practice a safety culture in their operations.
It will take a lot more than examples of companies who understand safety to convince me that TCCA is even close to doing an acceptable job of ensuring the rules are being followed, and having more of them sitting on their asses pushing make believe safety on paper is not progress.
Then again maybe I don't know jack sh.t about safety and my 55 years of flying accident free without any regulatory non compliance issues was just blind luck helped by having TCCA in the background beavering away enforcing the law.
Anyhow that was a very good post J.O. and I hope SMS will be the magic bullet that makes your world of aviation a better world.....I'm retired and enjoying life after aviation.
However in that I have observed the oversight of the industry by Transport Canada for over fifty years it is my opinion that it has gone from bad to worse.
Also may I suggest that there is a big difference between airline and corporate aviation and the air taxi / bush operators.
There are many examples of companies that not only cut corners and ignore the rules but their company culture is to intimidate their employees to either go along with that culture or be out of a job. Never, ever, have I seen an instance where a pilot or engineer could go to TCCA with evidence of wrongdoing by a company and have TCCA step in and fix the problem and protect the rights of said people......never ever...
It was that way fifty years ago and I see no improvement in today's world, in fact I believe that not only is it worse but with SMS it is letting the fox guard the chicken house in that sector of aviation.
Granted as you describe the vast majority of companies recognize and practice a safety culture in their operations.
It will take a lot more than examples of companies who understand safety to convince me that TCCA is even close to doing an acceptable job of ensuring the rules are being followed, and having more of them sitting on their asses pushing make believe safety on paper is not progress.
Then again maybe I don't know jack sh.t about safety and my 55 years of flying accident free without any regulatory non compliance issues was just blind luck helped by having TCCA in the background beavering away enforcing the law.
Anyhow that was a very good post J.O. and I hope SMS will be the magic bullet that makes your world of aviation a better world.....I'm retired and enjoying life after aviation.
Thanks Chuck. And I recognize and concur that there are some operators out there who have the bad habits you describe, and that TC has sometimes been ineffective in changing that. No better example exists than the outfit in Winnipeg that had a Navajo run out of fuel. The pilot goes to jail while the company basically gets off scott free, at least from a legal perspective. I knew people who couldn't get away from the place fast enough when they worked there, but so far they seem to have come away realtively unscathed.
And SMS is hardly a magic bullet. It's a tool, and like any other tool, if you use it right, it can be pretty effective at getting the job done. Use it wrong, or use the wrong tool, or ignore the benefits entirely, and bad things can happen.
And SMS is hardly a magic bullet. It's a tool, and like any other tool, if you use it right, it can be pretty effective at getting the job done. Use it wrong, or use the wrong tool, or ignore the benefits entirely, and bad things can happen.
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The pilot goes to jail while the company basically gets off scott free, at least from a legal perspective. I knew people who couldn't get away from the place fast enough when they worked there, but so far they seem to have come away realtively unscathed.
Exactly, and that is only one of many companies who TCCA turned a blind eye to over the years.
Now may I ask you a question?
Having worked in many many countries all over the world and learned how some them work, you can get approval for most anything with the right amount of money.
How much do you think it takes to pay off some top TCCA official so they go blind?
I am asking because I am curious.
Exactly, and that is only one of many companies who TCCA turned a blind eye to over the years.
Now may I ask you a question?
Having worked in many many countries all over the world and learned how some them work, you can get approval for most anything with the right amount of money.
How much do you think it takes to pay off some top TCCA official so they go blind?
I am asking because I am curious.
Interesting discussion. Others have pointed out you cannot legislate a corporate culture and enforced standards will always be a minimum.
SMS reminds me of a saying from the old Siberian seal hunting days " God is in heaven and the CZAR is far far away"
For most Canadian bush and small charter operations this is very much the case. They operate on their own. Pretending a system that is designed for companies with long term vested interests in running a safe operation is going to impact them is pie in the sky. A good percentage of these operators are not likely to survive the season, so they are not going to take on a long term expense without a clear financial gain.
At the same time an enforcement regime is what we have. We may see a whiplash spasm to a publicized incident but the trend is going to be less and less "enforcement" because the government does not want to pay for it. A DOT inspector can show up in X lake once a year but everyone knows he is in town and acts accordingly.
There are three forces I can see being brought to bear on operators to get them to behave.
One is insurance providers making operators put effective programs in place. The problem is the insurance companies need the good guys to pick up the tab for the bad guys. The best idea IMHO would be operators starting self insurance pools with admittance limited to those who play by the rules. Keep the bad apples out. Interestingly when this starts to happen the insurance companies suddenly get much more interested in dividing the risk pool to help the good guys.
The second is the public needs to demand something more than right now and the cheapest price. I think people will pay when presented a choice and know one operator in Northern Ontario who has done well by using better equipment and charging more. If I was part of a pool of higher standard operators I'd make sure all my customers knew I was in and encourage buyers to find out who was not.
Third is to start chucking managers and owners in jail. That money saved does you little good when you are in stir. SMS may help by making it more of a company responsibility to operate safely. A very clear statement in the rules that at the end the day safety remains with the company would help. Requiring companies to appoint a named individual to be held liable in case of failures might cause some to think twice about load pushing etc. Requiring directors to post personal bonds could be another step. I cannot believe that in the Winnipeg crash the dispatcher/manager was not charged.
My 2 cents worth
20driver
SMS reminds me of a saying from the old Siberian seal hunting days " God is in heaven and the CZAR is far far away"
For most Canadian bush and small charter operations this is very much the case. They operate on their own. Pretending a system that is designed for companies with long term vested interests in running a safe operation is going to impact them is pie in the sky. A good percentage of these operators are not likely to survive the season, so they are not going to take on a long term expense without a clear financial gain.
At the same time an enforcement regime is what we have. We may see a whiplash spasm to a publicized incident but the trend is going to be less and less "enforcement" because the government does not want to pay for it. A DOT inspector can show up in X lake once a year but everyone knows he is in town and acts accordingly.
There are three forces I can see being brought to bear on operators to get them to behave.
One is insurance providers making operators put effective programs in place. The problem is the insurance companies need the good guys to pick up the tab for the bad guys. The best idea IMHO would be operators starting self insurance pools with admittance limited to those who play by the rules. Keep the bad apples out. Interestingly when this starts to happen the insurance companies suddenly get much more interested in dividing the risk pool to help the good guys.
The second is the public needs to demand something more than right now and the cheapest price. I think people will pay when presented a choice and know one operator in Northern Ontario who has done well by using better equipment and charging more. If I was part of a pool of higher standard operators I'd make sure all my customers knew I was in and encourage buyers to find out who was not.
Third is to start chucking managers and owners in jail. That money saved does you little good when you are in stir. SMS may help by making it more of a company responsibility to operate safely. A very clear statement in the rules that at the end the day safety remains with the company would help. Requiring companies to appoint a named individual to be held liable in case of failures might cause some to think twice about load pushing etc. Requiring directors to post personal bonds could be another step. I cannot believe that in the Winnipeg crash the dispatcher/manager was not charged.
My 2 cents worth
20driver
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20driver, your suggestion re the insurance thing is excellent.
Not only would it work but the good operators would have a vested interest in getting rid of the crooked operators the insurance costs would go down as less losses had to be covered.
I love your suggestion for putting those convicted of operating illegally in jail.
I can think of a few of TC's management who would make good cell mates for them.
Not only would it work but the good operators would have a vested interest in getting rid of the crooked operators the insurance costs would go down as less losses had to be covered.
I love your suggestion for putting those convicted of operating illegally in jail.
I can think of a few of TC's management who would make good cell mates for them.
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Similar problems at CASA too:
http://www.pprune.org/d-g-reporting-...o-casa-15.html
http://www.pprune.org/d-g-reporting-...o-casa-15.html
