The Air Passenger Safety Group

MEDIA RELEASE
16 August 1999

Fatal Aircraft Accident in Sept-Iles raises disturbing questions,
says Air Passenger Safety Group.

"The crash of a Regionair Beech 1900 at the Sept-Iles airport on 13 August 1999 raises disturbing questions for the safety of air passengers and crews in this country," says Michael Murphy, a former professional pilot and ex-Transport Canada senior executive, now chair of the Air Passenger Safety Group. The aircraft crashed just short of runway 31 after flying a non-precision approach in weather reported as ¼ visibility in fog, ceiling 200 feet, which is lower than the minimum descent altitude for a non-precision approach. After waiting 90 minutes to be rescued, the pilot subsequently died of his injuries; the co-pilot was seriously injured. Two passengers in the 19 seat aircraft were slightly injured. No Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) signal was heard.

Only 8 months earlier, another Beech 1900 operated by Regionair crashed ¼ mile short of the runway at St. Augustin, Quebec. Visibility was about ½ mile in a blowing snowstorm. Two infants were slightly injured; seven other passengers and two crews were only shaken up when the aircraft struck the frozen St. Augustin River. No ELT signal was heard. The aircraft, damaged beyond repair, was located by a local resident on a snowmobile. Regionair is a code-sharing partner of Canadian Airlines.

The questions put by APSG include:

• Why did the pilot not use the Instrument Landing System on runway 09?
• Why do Canadian Aviation Regulations permit a "look see" using a non-precision approach when bad weather dictates the use of precision approaches that may be available at the same airport?
• Why, again, did the Emergency Locator Transmitter not function as desired?
• Why did it take 90 minutes to find the aircraft, which was only 500 metres from the runway?
• How long does it take to get emergency vehicles to the Sept-Iles Airport?
• When and why was the fire hall at the airport closed?
• What can Transport Canada say about the safety of the Sept-Iles airport?
• What monitoring has Transport Canada made of Regionair since the January accident and what were the findings?
• What surveillance had Canadian Airlines made of Regionair?

• What action will Transport Canada take to assure air passengers of their safety on Regionair and other similar airlines?

The Air Passenger Safety Group, the air arm of Transport 2000 Canada, a multi-modal passenger interest group with chapters across the country, is holding an all-day symposium on air passenger safety in Ottawa on Thursday, 19 August. For more information on the symposium, contact Michael Murphy at (613) 829-0602, James T. Lyon, QC at (613) 730-1504 or visit the Group’s website at www.transport2000.ca/APSG