Latest news with #aircraft safety
CTV News
4 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Plane crashes and hijackings: Are aerial incidents rising in Canada? Experts weigh in
A seaplane crash at an Ontario lake and a plane hijacking at a B.C. airport have prompted questions about aircraft safety and airport security — but data shows airplane accidents are declining on average, and experts say there may be too many challenges to get security at small- to medium-sized airports up to the level they need to be. Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) data from the last five years show there have been fewer than 200 'plane accidents' each year — with 193 in 2024, 181 in 2023, 167 in 2022, 192 in 2021 and 171 in 2020. That averages roughly 181 plane crashes per year over that span. But the previous decade — from 2010 to 2019 — saw an average of 251 plane accidents per year, significantly higher than Canada has seen more recently. 'We have an increase in the quality of pilots, pilots are much more rigorously trained and inspected, and that's done by Transport Canada and by instructors,' said John Gradek, from McGill University's aviation management school. 'More airplanes are flying, but a reduction in incidents, which is good news.' Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of a seaplane crash this week, when a 16-year-old died at Lake Scugog, Ont., after a small plane collided with the dock he was standing on. The teen died at the scene, while the pilot was taken to hospital with minor injuries. TSB investigators have not yet confirmed what contributed to the crash but said alcohol was not a factor. TSB told CTV News in an email that investigators were back on scene Sunday and that the aircraft had been examined. 'The aircraft will be transported to a secure location in case they need to look at it again. Interviews with witnesses have been carried out,' said TSB spokesperson Nic Defalco. Gradek said the TSB's role in providing recommendations to Transport Canada after crash investigations has played a major role in improving pilot training and safety measures, helping reduce crashes overall. 'What Transport Canada has done in the last few years is really take note of TSB recommendations on small airplanes and really instructed their inspectors to be more vigilant — in terms of the aspects the TSB might have reported on, things like training, like the number of hours. Particularly, floatplanes are very fickle in how you fly them,' he added. Hijacking at B.C. airport sparks security debate A plane hijacking from the Victoria Flying Club in B.C. has also raised questions about increasing security at smaller airports across Canada — which experts say is ideal in theory, but nearly impossible in practice. 'You certainly want to increase security reasonably where you can, but I think you would be hard-pressed to impose a uniform level of security in the general aviation world because there are so many airports. A lot of them are out in the middle of nowhere, some of them have very little activity — it would be really, really challenging to come up with security that we think of in the commercial world as consistent,' said Steven Green, a retired Boeing 737 captain and accident investigator, in a Zoom interview with CTV News Sunday. CTV News reached out to more than a dozen small- to medium-sized airports across the country from Thursday to Sunday. While some did not respond to the request, others said they have no plans to change security measures following the hijacking incident in B.C. 'Following any incident, we conduct an internal review to assess our response and identify areas for improvement,' said Linsday Gaunt, Vice President of Revenue Strategy and Business Development at Victoria Airport, in an email to CTV News. 'Should Transport Canada make any recommendations as a result of this investigation, we will work with them to support implementation as appropriate.'
Khaleej Times
15-07-2025
- General
- Khaleej Times
Ahmedabad plane crash: India orders airlines to check fuel switches on Boeing jets
India has ordered its airlines to examine fuel switches on several Boeing models after they came under scrutiny following last month's crash of an Air India jet, which killed 260 people. A preliminary report, issued Saturday by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, found that the switches had flipped from run position to cutoff shortly after takeoff. The report did not offer any conclusions or apportion blame for the June 12 disaster, but indicated that one pilot asked the other why he cut off fuel, and the second pilot responded that he had not. India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued the order Monday to investigate the locking feature on the fuel control switches of several Boeing models including 787s and 737s. The order came after Boeing notified operators that the fuel switch locks on its jets were safe. But it was in line with a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) issued by the US Federal Aviation Administration, which recommended inspection of the locks to ensure they could not be moved accidentally. Several Indian and international airlines have already begun their own inspections of fuel switches. "It has come to the notice of DGCA, that several operators -- internationally as well as domestic -- have initiated inspection on their aircraft fleet as per the SAIB," DGCA said in a statement. In view of the SAIB, all airline operators of the affected aircraft must complete the inspection by July 21, it added. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was headed from Ahmedabad in western India to London when it crashed, killing all but one of the 242 people on board as well as 19 people on the ground. In a letter to employees on Monday, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said the investigation into the crash was ongoing and it would be unwise to jump to "premature conclusions".
Arab News
15-07-2025
- Business
- Arab News
India orders airlines to check fuel switches on Boeing jets
NEW DELHI: India has ordered its airlines to examine fuel switches on several Boeing models after they came under scrutiny following last month's crash of an Air India jet which killed 260 people. A preliminary report, issued Saturday by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, found that the switches had flipped from run position to cutoff shortly after takeoff. The report did not offer any conclusions or apportion blame for the June 12 disaster, but indicated that one pilot asked the other why he cut off fuel, and the second pilot responded that he had not. India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued the order Monday to investigate the locking feature on the fuel control switches of several Boeing models including 787s and 737s. The order came after Boeing notified operators that the fuel switch locks on its jets were safe. But it was in line with a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) issued by the US Federal Aviation Administration, which recommended inspection of the locks to ensure they could not be moved accidentally. Several Indian and international airlines have already begun their own inspections of fuel switches. 'It has come to the notice of DGCA, that several operators — internationally as well as domestic — have initiated inspection on their aircraft fleet as per the SAIB,' DGCA said in a statement. In view of the SAIB, all airline operators of the affected aircraft must complete the inspection by July 21, it added. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was headed from Ahmedabad in western India to London when it crashed, killing all but one of the 242 people on board as well as 19 people on the ground. In a letter to employees on Monday, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said the investigation into the crash was ongoing and it would be unwise to jump to 'premature conclusions.'
Al Arabiya
15-07-2025
- Business
- Al Arabiya
India orders airlines to check fuel switches on Boeing jets
India has ordered its airlines to examine fuel switches on several Boeing models after they came under scrutiny following last month's crash of an Air India jet, which killed 260 people. A preliminary report, issued Saturday by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, found that the switches had flipped from run position to cutoff shortly after takeoff. The report did not offer any conclusions or apportion blame for the June 12 disaster, but indicated that one pilot asked the other why he cut off fuel, and the second pilot responded that he had not. India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued the order Monday to investigate the locking feature on the fuel control switches of several Boeing models, including 787s and 737s. The order came after Boeing notified operators that the fuel switch locks on its jets were safe. But it was in line with a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) issued by the US Federal Aviation Administration, which recommended inspection of the locks to ensure they could not be moved accidentally. Several Indian and international airlines have already begun their own inspections of fuel switches. 'It has come to the notice of DGCA that several operators — internationally as well as domestic — have initiated inspection on their aircraft fleet as per the SAIB,' DGCA said in a statement. In view of the SAIB, all airline operators of the affected aircraft must complete the inspection by July 21, it added. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was headed from Ahmedabad in western India to London when it crashed, killing all but one of the 242 people on board as well as 19 people on the ground. In a letter to employees on Monday, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said the investigation into the crash was ongoing and it would be unwise to jump to 'premature conclusions.'
