Survey Finds Gaps In Aviation Safety Procedures

[Lakelad]

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Survey finds gaps in aviation safety procedures


Thursday, Apr. 24 2014 - Globe and Mail
Kathryn Blaze Carlson

Travellers are vulnerable to a major aviation accident under Transport Canada’s current safety regime, inspectors say, lamenting that they scrutinize “more paperwork than airplanes” these days.

A new survey of Canada’s professional aviation inspectors, to be released Thursday, found 85 per cent of respondents believe air travellers have been exposed to higher risk because of Transport Canada’s transition to safety management systems, or SMS.

The head of the Canadian Federal Pilots Association, which represents licensed pilots who work as Transport Canada inspectors, said Transport Minister Lisa Raitt should see the results as a “major red flag” and cautioned that the next crash could be in Toronto or some other major Canadian city.

Since 2008, the federal department has required air operators whose planes carry 20 or more passengers to develop their own in-house safety management systems. Under the regime, inspectors effectively became system evaluators who sometimes conduct traditional audits.

“We’re getting further and further away from the front-line, and our information is coming third-hand,” said Captain Daniel Slunder, president of the pilots association, which co-sponsored the survey with the Union of Canadian Transportation Employees.

Ashley Kelahear, a spokeswoman for Ms. Raitt, said Transport Canada inspects small and large airlines thousands of times each year, noting aviation accidents are at an all-time low. She also pointed out that Ms. Raitt asked the federal transport committee to study the transportation of dangerous goods to ensure their safe movement, including the implementation of SMS across air, marine and rail sectors.

An Air Canada spokesman said the company has invested “significant resources” in its safety management system. “We believe SMS is a highly effective additional layer of safety that encourages everyone working at Air Canada to make safety their top priority in whatever they do,” Peter Fitzpatrick said.

WestJet wouldn’t comment Wednesday since it hadn’t seen the survey results. But the National Airlines Council of Canada, which represents the country’s largest passenger air carriers, said its members are “committed to SMS as an enhancement of existing safety processes.”

'no indication Transport Canada ever attended one of First Air’s course on crew resource management'

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[Specs]

Donald Rumsfeld on SMS

There are known knowns.

These are things we know that we know.

There are known unknowns.

That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know.

But there are also unknown unknowns.

There are things we don't know we don't know.

[Seeker]

Donald Rumsfeld on SMS

There are known knowns.

These are things we know that we know.

There are known unknowns.

That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know.

But there are also unknown unknowns.

There are things we don't know we don't know.

That quote actually makes a lot of sense.

[CanadaEH]

That quote actually makes a lot of sense.

It makes sense and doesn't name sense.

[boestar]

Seeker: I just completed my business analysis Certification and this is actually part of that training. One must account for each of those factors when doing an analysis.