Criminal Negligance

[FREEFALL]

I heard on the radio today that the pilot of the aircraft that crash landed in YWG could be sentanced as early as today. If anyone hears the outcome of the trial, please post it. I am really curious as to what the public (non-aviation community) has to say.

[lilfssister]

Looks like tomorrow:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story ... tence.html

[xsbank]

It would be a real shame if he gets "real jail time." I think that because it has gone as far as it did it has given the rest of us a real wake-up call. Jail time to teach him a lesson is pointless as he will never do it again, even if he could ever fly again, which is highly unlikely.

[Widow]

I'm sure he's no threat to anyone, anywhere. No reason he shouldn't be able to serve his sentence in the community.

[Doc]

Okay, I'll agree, he's no threat to society. That's given. From this, we would learn what? Just playing Devil's Advocate here, but what message would that send? Perhaps, the knowledge that a conviction, with the resultant criminal record, and the lack of ability to get a Passport, and to travel will be enough of a deterrent? It will be a "first" either way. I only hope everybody's paying attention here.

My one question remains.....WHY is that company still allowed to fly paying passengers in this country??

[bob sacamano]

My one question remains.....WHY is that company still allowed to fly paying passengers in this country??

TC turns a blind eye is what I think. They say no keystone employees turn them in.

keystoned is expanding. They are either extending or building a new hangar at their base in st. andrews, they now have 3 king air 200's, and painting their navajos and adding some G550 in them.

Note: owner and chief pilot were preparing for their own flights on the day of said accident. They knew that the weather conditions were IMC, they also knew that the aircraft had no auto-pilot in it, yet the chief pilot and owner allowed the aircraft to stay online and be dispatched on a single pilot IFR in IMC conditions, clearly against the CARs. Why are they still in business? They haven't learned, they still push their pilots, and cliff still tells his pilots to push on through to destination without a fuel stop...

[bob sacamano]

Looks like tomorrow:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story ... tence.html

He miscalculated the amount of fuel needed given the weather conditions and also decided to press on with the flight despite being aware of the possibility that the Piper Navajo aircraft was not equipped with a mandatory auto-pilot system, she ruled.

Possibility that it wasn't equipped with an auto-pilot? I thought the thing was taken out completely! Pop your head in the cockpit and you'll remove the possibility out of the equation. He clearly conducted the flight while breaking the CARs in regards to that auto-pilot, among other things...Both he, the Ops manager, director of maintenance, chief pilot, and owner should be responsible. Jail time? that's for the courts to decide.

This joke of a company is a cancer to our community.

[Doc]

"Cliff still tells his pilots to push on without a fuel stop...." Are you serious? Attention: Keystone pilots.....GROW A SPINE!!!!

[Chuck Ellsworth]

It would be interesting to know if someone in TCCA is getting payed off to be blind to what goes on.

[Doc]

Ya Think??

[Chuck Ellsworth]

Ya Think??

Doc, one thing I learned from my two and a half year legal battle with the top people in TCCA was they make a common street criminal look like a saint.

So yes I think that it is quite possible that someone is on the take in TCCA to be blind to what goes on with some companies....and the ones who are not paying " protection " money get closed down......I see no real difference in the moral compass in TCCA's top management than the moral compass in the top level of the mafia.

[Doc]

Hey...that "Ya think?" was in TOTAL agreement with your theory! Cheers

[CID]

I'm sure he's no threat to anyone, anywhere. No reason he shouldn't be able to serve his sentence in the community.

That sure is a contrast from your post on another thread widow:

A court of law found this company to be "criminally negligent" in this death. And a $110,000 fine is nothing but a slap on the wrist. How can anyone find that acceptable?

What makes this "criminally negligent" person less deserving?

[Widow]

Really? Mr. Tayfel's career has already been destroyed. He is paying a much heftier price than $110K for his "criminal negligence". Yet here, the organization which should have played an equal role before a judge got off with ... what sanctions exactly were imposed upon Keystone for their part in this accident (as described in the TSB report, not to mention what has been described here by "witnesses")?

How many companies, in any industry, have actually been held accountable under the law for defying the Canada Labour Code and causing death since Bill C-45 "beefed up" the responsibility of the "organization"? Or before, for that matter.

[Chuck Ellsworth]

widow, we expect more of you than to let CID goad you into responding to his posts.

Actually I'm surprised he hasen't jumped in to respond to my beliefe that someone in TCCA is on the take to let some of these companies operate while shutting others down.

Maybe CID has finally come to the conclusion that I do understand how the regulator works.

[trey kule]

widow wrote:

Really? Mr. Tayfel's career has already been destroyed.

Can you explain this a little more. I normally dont get involved in this type of thread, but I am interested in exactly what Mr. Tayfel is doing now and why.

[Widow]

Apology from pilot who caused fatal plane crash in Winnipeg six years ago
March 19, 2008 - 18:31
Tamara King, THE CANADIAN PRESS

WINNIPEG - Mark Tayfel had suspicions about his plane's equipment long before he was forced to crash-land a Piper Navajo that had run out of fuel.

Before taking off from a remote fishing lodge, he warned his boss about a faulty auto-pilot - a device that could have helped him safely land the twin-engine plane at Winnipeg's airport.

When Tayfel missed the runway, he manoeuvred the plane into a busy Winnipeg intersection, miraculously missing everyone on the ground. Five passengers lived, but the sixth died a few weeks after the June 2002 accident.

The young pilot's dream career has been on hold ever since, and in a tearful apology to the victim's family at a sentencing hearing Wednesday, Tayfel said there's only a remote chance he will ever fly again.

"I just want to offer up an apology to the passengers. As the pilot of that aircraft, it was my responsibility to get them back to Winnipeg safely. I failed to do that," Tayfel said during his brief, emotional address to the packed courtroom.

When he found out that one of the passengers, 79-year-old Chester Jones of Kansas, had died, Tayfel said his heart sank.
Since then, life has been an "emotional roller-coaster," Tayfel said.

"I just want them to know I'm sorry," he said.

Last November, Tayfel was found guilty on six criminal charges, including criminal negligence causing death and bodily harm, and one count of dangerous operation of an aircraft. He could be sentenced Thursday.

His lawyer introduced a last-minute witness - a retired Air Canada pilot who flew for more than 40 years - at Wednesday's sentencing hearing who said smaller airlines pressure their captains into bending the rules.

"He is only part of a system. He is part of a corporate culture," said Dale Andersen.

On the day of the deadly crash, Tayfel told the chief pilot at Keystone Air that the auto-pilot function was not working. Under the Aeronautics Act, the company should have found a co-pilot for Tayfel's flight, Andersen said.

"Quite often safety takes a back seat to money in the lower part of the industry," he said.

Tayfel's lawyer, Balfour Der, has asked Justice Holly Beard to spare his client time in jail for a number of reasons, including that it has taken almost six years for the case to navigate through the justice system.

Crown attorney Brian Wilford said since it's apparently common for people in parts of the airline industry to bend the rules, Beard should consider handing out jail time as a warning to other pilots.

"They must be deterred from even thinking they can get away with it," said Wilford.

"One innocent person died. Others injured. It is an absolute miracle that nobody on the ground died. I venture to say that landing could never be done again in a million years."

It has been almost a year since Tayfel's Queen's Bench trial. Last April, the Crown argued Tayfel should be found guilty because he took off from a northern Manitoba fishing lodge without enough fuel.

"Mr. Tayfel was the author of what befell that plane and those passengers," Wilford said.

Tayfel blamed the crash on faulty fuel gauges. He said he inspected the plane's gauges before takeoff at Gunisao Lake Lodge and believed he had plenty of fuel for the return trip to Winnipeg.

In the judge's ruling made public last November, Beard wrote that a "reasonable and prudent" pilot would have taken other steps to ensure there was enough fuel on board.

"I have found that the accused's belief that he had 850 pounds of fuel and that he could make the flight safely were not reasonable," she wrote.

"His various explanations sound more like after-the-fact justifications for his very hasty estimate as to the amount of fuel on board."

Tayfel now works as a dispatcher for an air transport company in Calgary.

http://www.macleans.ca/canada/wire/arti ... t=n031996A

[CID]

Maybe CID has finally come to the conclusion that I do understand how the regulator works.

Nope. I just know better than to respond to your never ending repetitive bullshit Cat Driver. Maybe one day when you write a new story or adopt a new mantra my interest will be renewed.

Widow, again, I'm baffled at your logic. Should a judgement be based on actual damages or the ability of the person to pay? Should "criminal negligence" be less of a crime if a person is broke? Or if their carreer is destroyed?

And what evidence do you have that Mr. Tayfel's career is destroyed? Wasn't he working at another operator when he was called to stand charges?

As far as Mr. Tayfel's former employers are concerned, we've discussed the entire thing before and I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. I think the evidence overwhelmingly places the blame on Mr. Tayfel. In my opinion, there is absolutely no excuse for what he did regardless of contributing factors.

[Widow]

Which is why he was found guilty in a criminal court of law. Sentencing (or fining) should be based on the actual damages AND the degree of responsibility of the convicted party.

[x-wind]

I'm thinking this particular court case could open the door for a lot of lawsuits. Perhaps we'll end up having to get some kind of insurance in the future much like a doctor's- maul practice insurance.

[TR]

mm

[witness keystone]

Yet here, the organization which should have played an equal role before a judge got off with ... what sanctions exactly were imposed upon Keystone for their part in this accident (as described in the TSB report, not to mention what has been described here by "witnesses")?

Widow; I like your stuff. Without Tayfel and other pilots in 2002 coming forward TC cannot find a case. I sat through the whole trial and Tayfel's careless approach to his job ran through his entire testimony. i have attached the judges decision made public for avcanda readers, the pdf file is 65 pages.

if enough 2000-2002 pilots contact you widow, TC will have what mark tayfel needed.!!

[stratcat]

Well the industry has just changed, I guess we better all go union so we have ALPAs aviation lawyers to help us out for lawsuits of the minor stuff thats gonna happen from here on in. There has been a precedence set here folks and its not good. What I wonder is (as was stated before) where the hell was Transport? Half the people who have worked for Keystone has talked to transport over the years and nothing has ever happened? Why? Young pilots are concerned about safety and have no one backing them. Right now you can walk and get another job. A few years ago you couldnt. If you wanted to keep your career going you had to bite your lip and do it. This guy just tried to do what he had to, to get his hours like anyone else and move on. Wheres the management, why are they not in court? Pretty Pathetic if you ask me. Lets think about that before we bash the pilot.

[CID]

This guy just tried to do what he had to, to get his hours like anyone else and move on.

He ran out of fuel. Is that doing "what he had to"???

[xsbank]

Six years in the courts, vilified for doing what he loves really badly, a death, no future in aviation, public humiliation, a precedent that damages/threatens all of us; you tell us that jail will serve what purpose? I guess you've never been a parent....