Transportation Safety Board calls for measures to address safety ‘gaps’ in air-taxi industry

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Canada’s aviation safety investigator is urging the government and the small-aircraft sector to take steps to reduce the number of crashes and deaths in the air-taxi industry, pointing to unsafe practices that have made travelling in small passenger planes a riskier way to fly.

The Transportation Safety Board on Thursday issued new recommendations to address the poor safety record of small commercial passenger planes and helicopters, including that Transport Canada pass regulations that address “gaps” in the laws that govern the sector. These gaps include: a lack of training to fly in mountains or coastal regions; special credentials for those holding key positions; psychological trauma training for air ambulance pilots; and rest requirements for aircraft mechanics.

The TSB also said plane operators should be required to track and report to Transport Canada the number of hours flown, takeoffs and landings in order to properly gauge any changes in crash or fatality rates.

Although overall aviation safety has improved in the past several years, “the air-taxi sector continues to have more accidents and more fatalities than all other sectors of commercial aviation combined,” said Kathy Fox, chairwoman of the TSB, as she presented the results of a five-year study on the safety record of the sector that includes all aircraft, excluding jets, that carry fewer than 10 passengers. This includes air ambulances, float planes that carry hunters, fishers and commuters, and other small planes that bring people and supplies to remote communities or mining camps.

“Although these vital air links have helped build Canada and sustain its population, air taxi operations are at higher risk than other sector of the commercial aviation industry,” Ms. Fox said at a news conference in Gatineau on Thursday.

Ms. Fox said this is partly because the air-taxi industry operates in unique and tough environments. The aircraft often fly without schedules into uncontrolled airspace without navigation aids or proper weather information. “Flights tend to be shorter, resulting in more takeoffs and landings,” Ms. Fox said.

Between 2000 and 2018, commercial aircraft with fewer than 10 passengers had 789 crashes that caused 240 deaths, which represents 55 per cent of all commercial air accidents and 62 per cent of the fatalities, the TSB said.

During the same period, airlines had 93 accidents and 15 fatalities. Aircraft conducting aerial work – carrying external loads for construction, or site surveillance – accounted for 466 accidents and 98 deaths. Privately owned aircraft flown for recreation are involved in the most fatalities, accounting for 29 of 36 deaths in 2018 alone.

Pilots involved in 167 of the air-taxi crashes studied by the TSB had an average of 5,000 hours of flight time, signaling that a lack of experience was not a cause of the incidents, the TSB said.

Ms. Fox said there are two reasons so many people die in small commercial plane crashes: the acceptance of unsafe practices, and inadequate management of operational hazards.

For example, the pilots – often without enough rest – fly with too much weight on board, with minimal reserve fuel in bad weather in decades-old planes that lack proper navigation aids.

“I’m not talking about flagrant rule violations. I’m talking about a gradual drift that occurs over time that occurs with every successful, though not necessarily safe, flight,” said the TSB’s Glen Whitney, who led the investigation. The danger of these safety lapses are compounded by bad management practices – poor pilot pairings, sending a different pilot when the first refuses to fly, or having no weight scales available.

The TSB is Canada’s investigator of accidents in the air, rail, marine and pipeline industries. It investigates crashes, collisions and other industry occurrences, and issues reports and recommendations to highlight safety and regulatory shortcomings. Federal ministers must respond to the recommendations within 90 days but are not required to take any action, nor are any industry participants.

Alexandre Desjardins, a Transport Canada spokesman, said department officials are reviewing the TSB’s report and recommendations, and will respond by the 90-day deadline.

“Transport Canada shares the Board’s commitment to advancing the safety of Canada’s air transportation system and we will continue to work with them, and our industry partners, to address all identified safety risks,” Mr. Desjardins said.

The TSB has previously issued 22 recommendations that affect safety practices and standards in the air-taxi sector, including the use of shoulder harnesses in seaplanes and ensuring adequate de-icing equipment is where it is needed. All 22, Ms. Fox said, are “outstanding” and unresolved.

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