Vancouver Fraser Valley Collision Risk Surveys

[cfilfs@gmail.com]

The surveys below are for VFR pilots in Vancouver's Lower Mainland--specifically, GA Pilots, Flight Instructors, and Student Pilots (Recreational, Private, and Commercial students)--and serve the purpose of obtaining more information about the nature and frequency of collision risk, as perceived and experienced by those conducting VFR, primarily below the Class C Vancouver TCA. The survey also seeks opinion on possible strategies and tools for dealing with the risks. The results are published live for all interested (linked below). For more information, contact cfilfs@gmail.com.

Survey Links:

Flight Instructors: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ohXfQe ... 0/viewform

Student Pilots: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1YovLge ... 0/viewform

GA Pilots: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1G3Vgtu ... U/viewform


Survey Results:


Flight Instructors:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ohXfQe ... wanalytics

Student Pilots:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1YovLge ... wanalytics

GA Pilots:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1G3Vgtu ... wanalytics

Thanks for your participation.
cfilfs@gmail.com

[checkremarks]

This was a great survey, I use to instruct out of YNJ and I have had many near misses in Glenn valley. Many flight schools from boundary bay, Langley and abbotsford use that area 6 miles by 6 area to do all types of trg. I relate flying there in the summer like "swimming with the sharks" I herd that they are getting new radar coverage from Langley to pass on more accurate traffic

[JDW]

I feel like anyone who has spent enough time flying in glen valley or pitt lake has had at least a scare. Lot of students will get to the valley, make a single call over crescent island and then go about their airwork for however long, forgetting that people are coming and going all the time. eyes open and stay safe

[ahramin]

Interesting that 1/3 of pilots come up with the wrong answer for transponder airspace, and another 1/3 can't figure it out. Where are these people learning to fly?

The survey seems to think that you should avoid collisions by talking on the radio, but also seems to find that this doesn't work well. A radio is never going to work to avoid collisions in practice areas, someone should explain this to the instructors.

[pelmet]

Flying VFR in the Vancouver area is a place where you really have to be on your toes. Loads of traffic, airspace constrained by mountains to the north, American airspace to the south, large open water areas, multiple control zones and of course, the weather.

[AirFrame]

ahramin, I'd venture a guess that the people who couldn't answer just happened to be at work and didn't have their charts handy. I didn't either, but I fly that route so often I knew the answer.

What NavCan would *like* of course, is for it to be ModeC mandatory from the ground up from YVR to YHE.

[SAR_YQQ]

What NavCan would *like* of course, is for it to be ModeC mandatory from the ground up from YVR to YHE.

Absolutely - with the amount of VFR traffic in that corridor. My share of dodging oblivious light GA has firmly cemented a hyper-vigilance attitude in that area. It's almost a relief to transit Pitt and Harbour CZ as they tend to give accurate and timely point outs.

[AirFrame]

I really don't understand it, SAR_YQQ. I've had *two* near misses in the 15 years i've had my license here in the lower mainland. One was an ultralight doing aerobatics over Mud Bay below 600'... He pulled up to do a loop right in front of me (less than 1/4 mile separation, me looking directly into his cockpit through his roof). The other was a cessna floatplane heading west along the river, while I was heading east in a formation with three other RV's. Our leader saw him in plenty of time for us to turn out of his path (maybe 1 mile minimum separation while we were head-on), but he never diverted his or showed any indication that he saw us.

The dozen pilots i've talked to from Langley don't see midairs as a significant risk in the lower mainland either... Look out the window, and don't fly near other planes. If you're flying into a practise area, make a position report. If someone else calls entering the area, make another one. But keep looking out the window and keep your head on a swivel. Maybe it's because I do that, that I haven't had any real issues.

I thought it might be a case of more activity during the week from schools, but retired folk I know who fly during the week (or just hang out at the airport (YNJ)) say that during the week it's an order of magnitude quieter than on the weekends. So where are all the planes that everyone is worried about?

[flingwinger]

Its only a matter of time. In fact, there was one today, in a not as busy corridor.

http://globalnews.ca/news/682071/four-p ... erton-b-c/

RIP.

[into the blue]

I've been flying in and around the Lower Mainland for over five years now. Just recently (about half a year ago) I began renting a G1000 and TAS-equipped aircraft from CZBB. Boy, I was truly astonished by how much traffic was whizzing by me that I probably would have never been able to notice with my eyes. I would certainly like to believe that my basic traffic-scanning habits are alright: I never fixate on one thing and my head turns quite a bit any time I am in busy airspace. My conclusion was that the simple see-and-avoid method is practically inadequate in this day, age, and area. ADS-B won't be here for a while, so why not equip your aircraft with a portable collision avoidance system and always make sure that your transponder is in Mode C and functioning (even if you are far away from any controlled airspace). The prices for such systems are very reasonable and the added safety that they provide is almost invaluable.

[Jack In The Box]

Used to do flight training out of YNJ. That training area (both pitt and GV) are WAY too condensed. It's actually scary, in hindsight, how many people go there. Even transiting is dangerous! It should be mandatory for planes in those areas to have TCAS! Even if you're just a cessna!

I always would try and go to Sumas or further past Glenn Valley towards Sumas Mountain. I found more breathing room out there, despite it being a slightly longer flight.

[AirFrame]

Its only a matter of time. In fact, there was one today, in a not as busy corridor.

Correct. But no changes to the airspace around Langley would have saved them.

It's unlikely that any airspace around a gliding center will be controlled in any serious way. The controllers would not want to watch gliders orbiting in thermals, three of them riding one thermal would turn into a furball on the radar as it's likely they'd pass over/under/close to each other quite often.

A larger problem (at least at Hope) is that the glider pilots like the peace and quiet, and some don't want to listen to radio chatter... So they turn off their radios once they're free, and only turn them back on as they approach to land again.

The media and those in charge of this survey will hold the Pemberton crash up as an example of "See! We need more regulation/airspace control!" when in fact it's anything but. Freak accidents happen, and people have to learn to accept that.