Widow Coming to Ottawa to "Fight" for Aviation Safety

[Widow]

Some of you already know, that I've been planning a trip to Ottawa for some time. I was going to go in January, but there didn't seem to be much sense in that when the House wasn't sitting, etc.

I have now rebooked my trip and confirmed the dates as arriving Friday March 27th, returning Sunday April 5th. The House is sitting in the intervening week. I have several contacts who will be assisting me in ensuring doors are opened.

There will be a number of us meeting over the course of the first few days to discuss our primary concerns and how best to voice them, and then taking our concerns to the bigwigs.

If anyone would like to be involved with the meetings, please contact me privately with your email address and I will put you on the list for information and schedules.

Some of you know what my concerns are, and how I'd like to see them addressed, focus being - the safety of workers transported by air.

As I will be spending the next few weeks organizing my thoughts and preparing the formal agenda, I would appreciate input from as many of you as possible - either privately or publicly - to help me ensure I/we don't leave anything out.

One suggestion already rec'd:

When Widow is in Ottawa, I suggest she asks the House of Commons committee to require TC Senior Management to provide to the committee a full list of these.

What are your greatest concerns, and what solutions do you think could be offered?

[...]

reserving this space for a truck full...stby

March 15, 2009...

Just a few ramdom thoughts for the time being;

-In light of present companies like the 'old' Keystone where self regulation would be like putting a wolf incharge of the chicken roost, SMS has no place in 703/2 operations, present times or in the future. TC must STEP up and still assume legal resposibility of this specific category of commercial aviation.

-When potencial candidates are applying to TC for the position of an operational manager of a certain company, any past or present criminal charges, convictions AND lawsuits against this individual whether it be blue collar or WHITE collar crime, will be assessed and addressed prior to any descision of whether or not the candidate is allowed to continue the process of applying for the Operations Manager position within any given company.

-Mandatory drug & alcohol & prescription drug testing among operation managers, pilots and maintenance and fuelers and dispatchers.

The following was said perfectly by "Keepitsafe".

PILOT FATIGUE

- the ridiculous 14 hour duty day, and the ability to extend it.

- check in and check out times that can vary widely from early morning to late at night over the course of a week - schedules generated by a computer or schedulers that think pilots are robots

- long hold overs at airports or locations that do not provide opportunity for a pilot to rest on a bed or couch undisturbed

- hours on duty worked far in excess of the maximum of 48 hours in a week as per the Canadian Federal Labour Code.

PILOTS THAT FEEL PRESSURE AND FEEL THEY CAN'T SAY NO OR CHANGE THINGS

- poor sleep due to stress from worry most of us pilots have experienced - concerning perhaps poor pay, or not being paid as per the Federal Labour Code, the mechanical state of the aircraft they are flying, the weather the next day, the check ride coming up, being away from family, the feeling of having no ability to change the above for fear of loss of promotion, lack of a good reference upon leaving, black listing, fear of loss of their job and ability to support their families, the fear of not being able to find a better job (in Canada, the lack of good career companies to work for), etc.

[flyinthebug]

Thanks for the dates Widow. I will be in touch and support your efforts as always.

Knock em dead! and I know you wont take "no" for an answer.

Cheers Kirsten!

[Widow]

I take it everyone who supports my efforts also thinks I don't need any advice???

[flyinthebug]

I was surprised by the lack of "activity" on this thread as well.

Im sure your agenda includes an attempt at 10 mins with the Minister of Transport?

So you would then have the opportunity to hand your reports/letters/findings directly to the top man. That would be my first suggestion Kirsten. With media present when you shake his hand..and at the same time, hand him all you are armed with.. He couldnt then continue to ignore the problems that exist on a 703/704 in Canada.

Anyone else!?

Fly safe all.

[ruddersup?]

Why does everything in aviation have to be over regulated? I look back over the last 40 years and really wonder if things are much better now. With the passing of time I don't feel one bit safer in an aircraft. My decision making skills have improved of course but only due to experience not regulations. Nothing beats experience. One can't say nothing beats regulation.
If a small air carrier tried to satisfy all the regulations to complete satisfaction they would not get an aircraft in the air. I think it is technically impossible to satisfy all the gob-ble-dy-gook that is eminating from Transport. (good word, had to look it up). IMHO about 80% of "their" paperwork is a waste of time. The paperwork we use on a daily basis is important for us to run the business but all the other paperwork is for Transport and in reality serves no purpose. Maybe I shouldn't say serves no purpose. I should say the return is not worth the effort. There should be some reward for the 80% of the gob ------. Not sure if I have seen any of it to date. If you ran your own business you will appreciate what I have just said. If you have not operated your own air charter and maintenance operation from top to bottom you have no idea.
Widow, this is not directed at you personally nor your crusade but your position, and it is shaking the beehive. You probably will get some changes made and you deserve to sit back and feel fat dumb and happy because this is a monumental achievement. How will this affect aircarrier and maintenance ops I can only shake my head. Just try to fly your aircraft when Transport's only goal in life it to prevent you. Maybe we've passed the European model already, not sure but Cat you would know.

[Chuck Ellsworth]

Just try to fly your aircraft when Transport's only goal in life it to prevent you. Maybe we've passed the European model already, not sure but Cat you would know.

Not yet but they are closing in on the mindless bureaucracy that is so rampant in Europe.

You will know that TC has caught up when you have to put on a Hi-Vis jacket to walk to your airplane.

Maybe the time has come to just shit can TCCA period and burn their abortion called CAR's.

Go back fifty years and examine the regulations that we had then and fine tune them to reflect the changes that modern technology has brought us.

The protection the public could seek out should be a lawsuit in civil court if they can show that an operator was operating in a careless and dangerous manner and in non conformance to the regulations.

The protection for the operator would be if the lawsuit were judged to be without merit then the person/s who brought forth the lawsuit would have to pay for the costs and maybe losses to the defendant.

But then what the @#$! do I know?

[freakonature]

You missed the memo on the high-vis vest.

[Widow]

Why does everything in aviation have to be over regulated?

I think if you look deeper into my posts, and hence my opinion, you'll find I've made it quite clear that, for the most part, I don't believe new regs are required. It is the failure to regulate consistently that is a far greater issue ...

[wrenches and radios]

I think if you look deeper into my posts, and hence my opinion, you'll find I've made it quite clear that, for the most part, I don't believe new regs are required. It is the failure to regulate consistently that is a far greater issue ...[/quote]

I think the real issue and the only issue is transport not inforcing the regulations that affect real world issues like flying in weather beyond the pilots or aircafts ability or letting a small crack go and keeping an eye on it. These would be hard issues to prove fault in. Chasing a piece of paper that is not in a file is a lot easier. If transport ramp checks an aircraft and finds a brocken seat installed they right up a letter and the operator has 30 days to respond letting transport know what they have or will do about it. but if a pilots elementry Maintenance training is out of date, there is probably a fine on it's way.

[Widow]

I will be focusing my concerns on things related to Occupational Health and Safety ... of both aviation workers and workers transported by air.

1.) Professional Pilot's Association
2.) Whistleblower Protection
3.) Independent oversight of Transport Canada
4.) Review of Transport Canada methodology with respect to safety oversight
5.) TSB/TCCA Accident investigation, public reporting, follow-up, especially as it relates to OH&S
6.) Aging aircraft

I am still trying to arrange to meet with the Ministers of Transport, Labour and the President of the Queen's Privy Council. It is expected I will have the Coroner's Report and Recommendations with respect to AQW in hand and will be pushing those recommendations - likely to be, for the most part, related to the safety of floatplane passengers/crew. Note that the problems at TC are not limited to TCCA, and deregulation + SMS is, IMHO and that of many others, creating a serious safety issue within many (non-transportation) industries.

If anyone has a suggestion as to who at TC itself I should approach. Since it appears Merlin is leaving, perhaps Rob Merrifield (Minister of State - Transport) and/or Louis Ranger (Deputy Minister) should be on the agenda ...

For those of you who have sent/are sending documented support ... much appreciated! Please keep 'em coming!

[hydraulic fluid]

Hi Widow,what do you mean by ageing aircraft?Are you suggesting that the beaver,otter cessna 140,170,etc should be grounded.

[Widow]

Good lord no. But I am suggesting that the use of unapproved/non-conforming parts/repairs has gone on for too long, and that other safety mechanisms retrofitted for aircraft that transport larger numbers of people need to be incorporated (to some degree) into the fleet of smaller craft.

[Keepitsafe]

Glad to see you are doing this Widow as it is in the spirit of helping all of us and our families.

A big concern I have is the ability of companies to compromise safety while operating within the CARs, such as:

PILOT FATIGUE

- the ridiculous 14 hour duty day, and the ability to extend it.

- check in and check out times that can vary widely from early morning to late at night over the course of a week - schedules generated by a computer or schedulers that think pilots are robots

- long hold overs at airports or locations that do not provide opportunity for a pilot to rest on a bed or couch undisturbed

- hours on duty worked far in excess of the maximum of 48 hours in a week as per the Canadian Federal Labour Code.

PILOTS THAT FEEL PRESSURE AND FEEL THEY CAN'T SAY NO OR CHANGE THINGS

- poor sleep due to stress from worry most of us pilots have experienced - concerning perhaps poor pay, or not being paid as per the Federal Labour Code, the mechanical state of the aircraft they are flying, the weather the next day, the check ride coming up, being away from family, the feeling of having no ability to change the above for fear of loss of promotion, lack of a good reference upon leaving, black listing, fear of loss of their job and ability to support their families, the fear of not being able to find a better job (in Canada, the lack of good career companies to work for), etc.

[Prairie Chicken]

Widow, FWIW, I’ve heard good things about Louis Ranger but have had no dealings with him myself. Dpending on when the DGCA is leaving, there may be an Acting/DGCA you might speak with instead of Merlin Preuss.

I am suggesting that the use of unapproved/non-conforming parts/repairs has gone on for too long

This has been a recognized issue since at least the early ‘80’s. Unfortunately, bogus or unapproved parts are very difficult to track down and would take a lot of TC & other resources. Remember, not only TC but also the vast majority of industry would like to put an end to this problem. This may be an example of a lack of inspectors with a mandate to search for bogus or unapproved parts.

You asked some time ago about a professional pilots’ association. That’s a tough question. Great idea in principal, but you can see the vast differences of opinion here on the Forum. It would be like herding cats. Still, the CBAA have managed to put together a recognized association, as have many other professional groups. I read the previous links & do support the idea, but it wouldn’t happen overnight. A good first step would be to identify some broad goals and objectives and try to get beyond that. A couple of organizations were trying ... I’d hook up with them to see what could be accomplished or learned from them. I’d certainly be in favour of the idea and would participate, but would not expect to see an effective association for at least a dozen years ... likely longer. I don’t support a “union” or mandatory participation, but would hope that a successful association would draw all responsible professional pilots.

You also asked about current whistle-blower protection. I don’t have any insight to offer in that regard. My experience is that management will protect their own, but the smart management will also hear the message. (And the not-so-smart management won’t.)

Perhaps as a new generation of pilots come into their own, we’ll see some of these changes. I hope so.

[Cat Driver]

Perhaps as a new generation of pilots come into their own, we’ll see some of these changes. I hope so.

I have seen a lot of " new generations " of pilots and the only real change is there seems to be more of them each generation to undercut each other.

[200hr Wonder]

How about labour laws that archaic simply because you are in aviation. Long duty days, lack of employee protection, pay scales that are out to lunch in terms of minimum wages and so forth. All these are well below the level of someone who falls under the provincial regs as opposed to federal which are at a bare minimum.

[jeta1]

I will be focusing my concerns on things related to Occupational Health and Safety ... of both aviation workers and workers transported by air.

1.) Professional Pilot's Association
2.) Whistleblower Protection
3.) Independent oversight of Transport Canada
4.) Review of Transport Canada methodology with respect to safety oversight
5.) TSB/TCCA Accident investigation, public reporting, follow-up, especially as it relates to OH&S
6.) Aging aircraft

For what its worth, your shopping list seems too ambitious. Although all the concerns are valid and can be expressed, I would drop #2 and 3. #2 is a minefield that wont change no matter what, and not a new subject to the suits in Ottawa (and whistleblowing is not a TC or aviation issue, it is everywhere, huge, and will derail you). #3 is a noble thought, but a guarranteed waste of time. You'll get patronized. Although I agree with some aspects of #1 and pilot protection, this for you will be like spitting against the wind, and with all due respect, you are not a pilot nor the widow of one. I would suggest that you put your energy into fewer, but clearly focused and achievable goals.

[PJ1]

Whistle blower protection is needed, especially when you work for the big outfits, also the fox watching the hen house, SMS has to go. Think back to the two maintenance guy's that went public a few years ago to the toronto star. They worked for jazz. They got left out to dry

[KAG]

I'll second duty regs. When you compare our rules to Europe's we work our crews much harder, longer and fatigue issues are much higher.

[20102m2]

http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/labour/emplo ... html#howto
Part III of the Canada Labour Code (Part III) deals with a variety of labour standards covering employees and employers operating in the federal jurisdiction. These standards govern things such as hours of work, minimum wages, holidays, severance pay, unjust dismissal and various types of leave. Part III covers about 7% of the Canadian labour force, employed in various industries such as banking, telecommunications, broadcasting, aviation, inter-provincial and international transportation, grain handling, uranium mining, certain activities on First Nations reserves and federal Crown corporations. Part III was enacted in 1965. Although it was amended on several occasions in the following decades to add new provisions, this was the first comprehensive review of the legislation.

I think the above provides opportunity to engage HRSDC-Labour while in Ottawa. Get your MP to arrange at least DG level meeting for you.

[swordfish]

I strongly endorse keepitsafe's suggestion that the flight and duty time regulations be changed. Not only are they the most absurd, convoluted and difficult to interpret in the Western world, they are too permissive for the employer.

Employers think that because the CARs permit 14-hour duty days, it is ok to schedule pilots for that time frame. Now I realize that these regs were developed in consultation with the "industry"...whoever that was... But I don't remember being consulted, nor any other pilot group in the 703/704 (which of course weren't identified that way at the time). If I remember correctly, the Twin Otter operators had a very strong influence in those discussions, as they wanted to maximize productivity for their companies, and pilots were (still are) paid by mileage.

In Europe they go by a points system; you accumulate points at a prescribed rate depending on the time of day you go on duty, accumulate them per hour, and there are additions for landings (i.e. cycles or sectors). You then lose points for rest-down and the tally is monitored for day, week, month, and year. 70 points max for a 24-h day, and 300 for a week, I THINK. Landings do not count for week points, only day points.

EVERYTHING is by tour-of-duty hours - there is nothing in there about flying time. Those may be separately regulated...I don't remember, but one way or another, I would never come near the limits.

The system is easy to understand, implement, and monitor. Pilot and employer have a mutual responsibility for their duty times, as in Canada.

As an example: if you get called for a medivac at 02:00 to go YZF-YSM, pick up 1 and take them to YXD, return to YZF (approx 8 hours TOD plus 1 hour after landing), you would rack up 101 points. In Europe, you would be grounded at YXD and unable to return to YZF. There are special rest-down points for a trip like that.

[Cat Driver]

I would drop #2 and 3. #2 is a minefield that wont change no matter what, and not a new subject to the suits in Ottawa (and whistleblowing is not a TC or aviation issue, it is everywhere, huge, and will derail you).

If there was no witness protection system in place for people to testify in criminal cases how many criminals would be running lose because people were afraid to testify in court?

[foxmoth]

the flight duty times in the CARS were done without porper industry consultation.
squeeky wheels got the grease.
An old TC guy told me he had a great suggestion but an airline rep huffed and threw his written offer on the floor.
so much for 703 704!
it the same old shit. If you don't stand up, you suffer.
the only difference between old and new pilots is the newbies are whimps who don't know how to fight for rights
and probably dont vote either.

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