“RED FLAG” on Canadian
Airline Safety
Re: CBC News article posted
Apr 24, 2014
Once again Safety Management
Systems, SMS, is one of the contributing factors to concern over airline
Safety.
“A survey of Canada’s
aviation inspectors shows they are increasingly concerned about aviation safety
because of Transport Canada rules that leave responsibility for setting
acceptable levels of risk up to the airlines.
The survey,
conducted by Abacus Data on behalf of the Canadian Federal Pilots
Association (CFPA), indicates 67 per cent of Canadian aviation inspectors
believe the current system increases the risk of a major aviation accident, up
from 61 per cent in 2007.”
It should be noted at this point the the CFPA, has had a record
of opposing SMS for the start. They are the major critics of the SMS approach.
“The concern comes
amid cuts to Transport Canada that mean inspectors are spending more time
overseeing paperwork, and less time inspecting airplanes and airline safety
systems.
At issue is the Safety
Management Systems (SMS) approach, introduced in 2008, that asks any
airline with planes carrying 20 or more passengers to monitor safety
performance themselves. Under the change, the inspector’s role is mainly
to evaluate the airlines’ systems with occasional inspections.
The CFPA expressed
concern about the SMS approach to safety when it was introduced.
A similar
survey in 2007 found 74 per cent of inspectors expected a major aviation
accident or incident in the near future. Now, 84 per cent of inspects expect such
an accident.
Daniel Slunder,
president of the CFPA, said Transport Minister Lisa Raitt should see the
increased concern as a “red flag.””
 |
| Canadian Aviation Safety Concerns |
The article goes on suggest
that the First Air Crash in Nunavut in 2011 could have been caused by SMS.
Anyone who truly understands SMS can not jump to that conclusion.
“We’ve already seen
the major accident inspectors feared when a First Air jet
crashed in Nunavut in 2011. The next crash could be in Toronto
or some other major Canadian city,” Slunder said in a news release.
A Transport Canada
assessment had found no problems with First Air’s SMS just months before the
crash, which killed 12 people.”
Further
objective evidence of a lack of knowledge of SMS is displayed in the idea that
Transport Canada’s reduced inspection work is a factor that will contribute to
more accidents. SMS is NOT Transport Canada’s System…it is the enterprises
system.
“Transport Canada has
decreased the frequency of mandatory inspections of airlines from one year to
three years because of dwindling resources, the CFPA claims. Some airlines may
go uninspected for up to five years, it says.
Transport Canada also
has ended unannounced in-person inspections in favour of audits of company
paperwork, according to Christine Collins, president of the Union of Canadian
Transportation Employees.
Canada’s auditor
general has already raised concerns about the lack of traditional inspections.
“Transport Canada is
not adequately managing the risks associated with its civil aviation
oversight,” Auditor General Michael Ferguson said in his 2012 report.
CBC News has reached
out to Raitt for comment but her office has not replied.
A statement from Air
Canada said safety is a “core value” for the airline.”
 |
| First Air Crash Nunavut 2011 |
Under the current
surveillance program “surprise” or traditional inspections is NOT the job of
Transport Canada. It is the job of the enterprise’s Quality Assurance system
under the SMS Process. I agree that Transport Canada should be doing more
“Surveillance” under the new Surveillance guidance of the their SUR001 internal
Surveillance Procedure. To blame SMS for added Safety concerns is just
ignorance of the SMS program.
“We have invested
significant resources in our integrated Safety Management System. We
believe SMS is a highly effective additional layer of safety that encourages
everyone working at Air Canada to make safety their top priority in
whatever they do,” the statement said.
Air Canada also pointed
to other air transport agencies, such as International Air Transport
Association (IATA), that have audited their safety systems.
WestJet has
declined comment.
The National Airlines
Council of Canada, a trade association representing Canada's four largest
passenger air carriers, including WestJet, Air Canada, Jazz and Air Transat,
issued a statement saying its members are “committed to SMS as an enhancement
of existing safety processes.”
"The aviation
industry has invested heavily into the development and implementation of
enhanced safety systems and protocols, which have certainly played a role in
making air travel safer than ever. There is no basis in fact to suggest
otherwise," the NACC said in its statement.
The CFPA survey,
conducted from Feb. 13 to March 14 of this year, was based on 284 responses to
an email questionnaire from licensed pilot inspectors and technical inspectors.”
This
article promoting the opinion of the CFPA is just not giving the entire
picture. The answers to the “Survey” of the Transport Canada Inspectors was inspectors
expressing concern over the Downsizing and of the regulator to due budget
constraints….not because of SMS!
Your
thoughts…..
