News
Lack of oversight in N.S. plane crash

Nov. 10, 2009, Gatineau, Que. – The Transportation Safety Board cites
ineffective oversight of safety regulations as one of the key
factors behind a private jet crash two years ago in northern Nova Scotia that left 10 people injured, including Tim Hortons co-founder
Ron Joyce.

The independent agency says private aircraft operators regulated
by the Canadian Business Aviation Association were not held to the
same standard as commercial airlines regulated by Transport Canada.

The safety board's final report says Transport Canada transferred
regulatory responsibility for some aviation operators to the
association in 2003, then failed to exercise effective oversight.

The board also found that many pilots were not aware of the
limitations of the visual guidance systems _ known as known as
visual glide slope indicators _ used to conduct landings.

Joyce suffered two fractured vertebrae when his new Bombardier
Global 5000 crashed just short of the private runway at his Fox
Harb'r Golf Resort and Spa near Wallace, N.S., in 2007.

The plane was flying through high winds and rain when the front
landing gear collapsed as it struck a lip of pavement before the
runway, causing the jet to skid on its belly for 300 metres.