When Airport Operators Are Victims

When Airport Operators Are Victims

By OffRoadPilots

 It is more popular to be a victim of circumstances that accept responsibilities for aerodrome operators. It is an aerodrome operator’s responsibility, no matter how small or large, to keep deer away from their own airfield. Aerodromes are under Federal Jurisdiction, and it is not Provincial responsibilities to provide wildlife management to aerodromes. An aerodrome association picked a dividing path when expecting wildlife management from a Province. Their article referenced below make statements that aerodromes are victims of their Province. Aerodrome operators should accept their responsibilities and design, develop, and implement their own Wildlife Planning and Management Plan. A regulatory requirement for aerodrome operators is that “no person shall allow a bird or other animal that is owned by the person or that is in the person’s custody or control to be unrestrained within the boundaries of an aerodrome.” When a deer is on an airfield, it is in the custody and control of that aerodrome operator.

“The topic that seems to have

demanded the most time

from the board has been in

regard to the continuing

inability for Provincial airports

to deal with deer and other

ungulate at airports. As of the

time of writing this, the issue

remains outstanding and to

say that I am frustrated is an

understatement. The

association has had numerous

meetings with the office of

the Ministry of Red Tape

Reduction, the Ministry of Environment and Protected Areas, as well as the Ministry of Forestry, Park and Tourism, as with absolutely nothing to show for it. The next step is approaching the premier’s office directly. The unfortunate reality is that all it will take is one major accident due to a deer that was known about but unable to be dealt with for things to move forward. The association would much prefer to be proactive and avoid this impending catastrophe and will continue to push wherever we can to fix this problem. The association will continue to support our members through governmental lobbying and province-wide studies.”

There are four fundamental traits to a safety management system (SMS). These

traits are trust, learning, accountability, and information sharing. A safety

management system is a regulatory requirement for an aerodrome certificate

holder. An aerodrome is defined as any area of land, water (including the frozen

surface thereof) or other supporting surface used, designed, prepared, equipped

or set apart for use either in whole or in part for the arrival, departure, movement

or servicing of aircraft and includes any buildings, installations and equipment

situated thereon or associated therewith. Generally speaking, any land parcel

where an aircraft is operating out of is an aerodrome. An aerodrome may be a

certified aerodrome, or a non-certified aerodrome.

Aerodrome operators view

themselves as victims of

circumstances when they

expect their responsibility to

be a Provincial or Local

Authority responsibility. An

aerodrome operator

establishes their own

operational processes for

the safe operation of their

aerodromes. As a regulatory oversight inspector, I often heard aerodrome operators say that “the regulations do not say that…”. Without accountability aerodrome operators become victims of their own circumstances, with expectations that someone else need to take on their responsibilities.

Sometime ago I was invited to speak about SMS at an annual aviation council

conference. The whole spectrum of aviation operators, from flight training schools,

aerial applicators, airport and aerodrome operator, general aviation and airlines

were at the conference attending the “Smarten Up SMS” talk. Smarten up SMS is

about operators to accept their responsibilities, to initiate safety actions without

delay, and to adapt their processes to the size, nature and complexity of the

operations.

Aerodromes are often located in remote areas away from cities or towns where

deer, birds, and other wildlife lives. It is the habitat that support wildlife and

habitat management is one tool to reduce bird and wildlife activities in the vicinity

of aerodrome. Aerodromes are surrounded by both public lands and private lands.

The land parcel itself where an aerodrome is located is under federal jurisdiction.

This combination of federal or provincial jurisdiction is a maze to navigate and

often leads to nowhere. When entering the maze, the first path selected is what

leads an aerodrome operator to the end result. The end result could be a blocked

path, or it could be a path to the desired, or expected result. When an operator

accepts accountability and responsibility for their operations is when the outcome

becomes reliable.

All things aeronautics and aviation safety is federally regulated. TC is the regulatory

oversight body in Canada and the FAA in the USA. The International Civil Aviation

Organization (ICAO) is an association of 193 member states. ICAO makes

recommendations to streamline the aviation industry globally. ICAO does not have

enforcement powers, but member states accept their accountability to the

aviation industry and align ICAO recommendations locally. A pilot operating out of

any airport globally, expects to see the same lighting and marking globally as they

do in their home-country. Aerodrome standards improve aviation safety. There are

about 45,000 aerodrome globally. If every aerodrome were under local

jurisdictions, there would be 45,000 ICAO member-jurisdiction. It is simpler to

work with 193 than 45,000. In addition, aeronautics is under federal jurisdiction

since it is impossible to define local land authority jurisdiction while flying. GPS has

made some improvements, but there are several jurisdictional boundaries that arelocated differently on the land surface than what their description and map show

on a piece of paper.

Wildlife planning and

management is an

accountability of aerodrome

operators. It is not just their

responsibility since a wildlife

on airport property is in the

custody of the operator, but

it is also for an aerodrome operator to comply with their responsibility that their aerodrome is suitable for aircraft operations. It is a regulatory requirement for a pilot before taking off from, landing at or otherwise operating an aircraft at an aerodrome, to be satisfied that there is no likelihood of collision with another aircraft or a vehicle, and that the aerodrome is suitable for the intended operation.

Both these requirements are for the pilot-in-command (PIC) to comply with and

are not a directly aerodrome requirements. The responsibility for an aerodrome

operator is to ensure that their aerodrome is unlikely to be hazardous to aviation

safety. Examples of hazards are wildlife, vehicles on an active runway, snow-

covered runways, and foreign object debris (FOD) blowing across the field. An

aerodrome operator must apply trust, learning, accountability and information

sharing principles in their operation. In addition, and a hidden hazard, is the

regulatory requirement for aerodrome operators with a safety management

system to monitor the concerns of the civil aviation industry in respect of safety

and their perceived effect on the holder of the airport certificate. Perceived

hazards are real hazards.

An Airport Wildlife Planning and Management (AWPM) plan should include a policy

for the management of airport habitats that might attract wildlife. An operator

should also establish a communication and alerting procedure for wildlife

management personnel, and to alert pilots as soon as possible of the wildlife

hazards at the airport and the risks associated with those hazards.

There are regulatory requirements for the development of civil instrument

procedures (IAP) at aerodromes, which requires that specific aerodrome

specifications be met prior to the publishing of any instrument procedure. An

aerodrome operator has to maintain an obstacle-free environment needed to

support an IAP at their aerodrome. Obstacle management is not the responsibility

of the local landuse authority but is the responsibility of aerodrome operators.

Aerodrome operators are responsible for obstacle management airside and inside

the fence. Obstacles outside of the aerodrome fence, adjacent to, or in vicinity of

the aerodrome are outside of the scope of aerodromes obstacle management.

Conventional wisdom is since there is an aerodrome in the community, an

aerodrome operator has the authority to remove aeronautical obstacles on private

or public lands outside of the airport fence. The implementation of airport zoning

regulations (AZR) is the only tool for an aerodrome operator to manage

aeronautical obstructions to maintain obstacle free zones for arriving and

departing aircraft.

Recent Supreme Court

decisions have reaffirmed

that federal government

has exclusive jurisdiction

over aeronautics. These

decisions have examined

whether or not specific

provincial and municipal

legislation impaired core

federal power over

aeronautics. These

decisions speak to

overlapping jurisdiction's laws as they relate to land use and aerodrome activities.

Provincial, territorial and municipal legislation may have an impact on the activities

related to an aerodrome, but it is beyond their scope and responsibility to manage

aerodrome safety.

Breaking news: Aerodrome operators are responsible for their own operations.Another issue that is the responsibility of an aerodrome operator is noise

management. Aircraft noise concerns at airports are local in nature. Certain

airports have an obligation to manage local noise issues associated with activity at

airports. Measures to address these concerns inevitably have impacts that reach

beyond the local area. The process is one that originates at the airport level and

proceeds from the site to the regulator and eventually makes its way to the

national regulatory process.

There are several other non-regulated examples of tasks aerodrome operators

must take care of. These tasks are often processes linked to their safety

management system (SMS) policy. Other tasks they are required to action hazards

that are immediate threat to aviation safety, such as snow and ice control, FOD

control, airside construction management, power grid failures, and wildlife on the

runway.

When aerodrome operators are expecting other agencies or private landowners to

take on deer control at the airport, operators make themselves victims of

unforeseen circumstances, since they have no control over these agencies or

landowners. When operating as a victim, there is no accountability, there is no

trust, there is no learning, and there is no information sharing.

There is only one option available for an aerodrome to manage deer, birds, and

other wildlife beyond aerodrome property, and that is the airport zoning

regulations which is linked to the airport certificate. An airport zoning regulations

protects an airport for aeronautical obstructions to be built in the vicinity of the

airport, it restricts landuse outside of the airport fence, and it protects the airport

from landfills to be placed in the vicinity of the airport.

OffRoadPilots