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A commission of inquiry into the overall state of aviation safety in Canada is being urgently requested by Virgil P. Moshansky, the retired Alberta judge who conducted an exhaustive inquiry into the 1989 Air Ontario Fokker F-28 crash near Dryden, Ont., which killed both pilots, a flight attendant and 21 passengers.
He broached the idea on April 6 during the second day of a review of aviation safety by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. The committee has set aside up to eight days for hearings.
The common theme of testimony from Moshansky as well as the Air Transport Association of Canada, the Canadian Business Aviation Association and others has been the depleted state of Transport Canada funding and the department’s increased reliance on safety management systems (SMS).
In his four-volume final report on the Dryden crash, Moshansky made no fewer than 191 recommendations for change at Transport, including what he described to the committee as “a complete rewriting” of the Canadian Aviation Regulations.
Moshansky told the committee that the safety environment did improve in the immediate aftermath of his report, but that funding cuts soon began eating into capabilities. Accusing the government of complacency as the number of Transport inspectors was steadily reduced, he said SMS was never intended to replace direct operational oversight, including of airports.
“Yet Transport Canada has done precisely that,” in stark contrast to the environment in the United States and elsewhere.
He also accused Transport of being secretive about the way it has reduced oversight, relying on internal memorandums rather than public notices in The Canada Gazette.
In addition to calling for a national inquiry, Moshansky suggested that increased funding for safety inspections and improved inspector-pilot currency standards could be a surcharge on every passenger ticket.
He closed his presentation to the committee by telling the Members of Parliament that by calling on government to correct the situation, “among the lives you save could be your own.”
