TSB Calls for Action on Repeat Issues
By 250 News
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 03:59 AM
Prince George, B.C.- The Transportation Safety Board has issued a “ Watchlist" which it says will be a "blueprint for change".
The watch list points to several safety issues it says are troubling Canada’s transportation system.
Board Chair Wendy Tadros says the issues are the results of repeated problems surfacing at accident scenes "Many times, we arrive on the scene of an accident and see the same safety issues—issues that we have raised before."
Singled out by the Board were the frequency of collisions at railway crossings, the lack of emergency preparation on Canada's large passenger vessels, and the consequences should an airliner fail to stop on one of Canada's runways.
"Airlines, ferries, railways—we're talking about tens of millions of trips annually," said Ms. Tadros. "We need the right players at the table to tackle these tough issues to make the system safer."
Ms. Tadros added she hopes the list will evolve as progress is made. "We're not saying it will be easy, but we're saying it's time to act. We're calling on change agents to work together and solve these problems, and make transportation safer for all Canadians—that's our goal."
FERRIES:
Based on the investigation of two Ferry incidents, one of which was the Queen of the North sinking of four years ago, the Board says there are safety deficiencies in how emergency duties and training are performed. Canadian regulations, for example, require passenger vessels to have procedures for rapid and safe evacuation of everyone, yet there is no requirement to carry out drills involving crowd-control duties before evacuation.
The Transporation Safety Board says large ferry operators must
- Adopt and practice effective emergency preparedness procedures. This includes maintaining detailed passengers lists and practicing evacuations.
TRAINS:
- Transport Canada and the railways must conduct safety assessments to identify high-risk crossings along busy passenger train routes and make the necessary safety improvements.
- Railways need to take further steps to ensure the appropriate handling and marshalling of longer, heavier trains.
AIRPORTS:
Airport operations require that aircraft and vehicles move between ramps, taxiways and runways. Sometimes this movement creates conflicts between aircraft or between aircraft and vehicles. This can happen when aircraft or vehicles mistakenly occupy an active take-off or landing area.
In a 10-year period from 1999 to 2008, there were 3831 of these confl icts, known as runway incursions, nationwide.
- Improved procedures and the adoption of enhanced collision warning systems are required at Canada’s airports.
- Millions of landings occur each year on Canadian runways. Rain, snow, ice, or slush can contaminate these runways and will have an effect on the landing distance. Pilots are required to calculate landing distance prior to each landing. To do this, they need to have an accurate report of runway surface conditions. However, if this information is not available, landing distance calculations could be in error and the aircraft is at risk of running off the end of the runway.
- Should this happen, it is important that an aircraft have an adequate “safety area” beyond the runway’s end. At some airports, however, this is not the case, and the terrain beyond the end of the runway could contribute to aircraft damage and injuries to passengers and crew. This area, therefore, must be sufficiently clear of obstacles.
- In bad weather, pilots need to receive timely information about runway surface conditions.
- Airports need to lengthen the safety areas at the end of runways or install other engineered systems and structures to safely stop planes that overrun.
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Posted by: Eagleone on March 17 2010 6:49 AM