Says SMS Would Compromise Safety

Worried about Transport Canada's plan to give the airlines responsibility to oversee their own safety, a retired judge from Alberta thinks government and industry are getting just a little too cozy.

Judge Virgil Moshansky (right) says it's time for another public inquiry into airline safety.

If you do a lot of flying in Canada, you might know of Judge Moshansky. He led a public inquiry into aviation safety two years ago. Back in 1989, the judge led an exhaustive investigation into the crash of an Air Ontario Fokker F-28 in Dryden. Twenty-five people died in that crash.

"I believe the government is moving away from more vigorous inspection and enforcement strictly as a cost-cutting measure, much as was done in the mid- and late-1980s preceding the Dryden crash," Moshansky told the Toronto Star.

The judge was also made a member of the Order of Canada in 2004 for his "singular dedication to enhancing aviation safety."

Moshansky isn't alone when it comes to voicing concerns about a loosening of Canadian air safety standards.

"I think a serious incident is looming," said Raymond Hall, a 33-year old flight deck veteran. "It's just a matter of who, where and what form it will take."

"There is going to be something that causes the public to take concern with the laissez-faire attitude of both the regulatory authority and airline management that mandates or tolerates the squeezing of resources and necessarily impinges on flight safety," Hall added.

Transport Canada has espoused its "safety management systems", or SMS, as a possible answer to maintain safety among that country's commercial airlines. SMS is a form of industry self-regulation, and would require airlines to develop and maintain their own safety protocols.

The Star reports that under SMS, Transport Canada inspectors audit an airline's safety procedures and policies -- and not individual aircraft or pilots. That responsibility would fall to the respective airline.

The SMS concept has the support of several airlines, as well as the Air Line Pilots Association.

FMI: www.tc.gc.ca/