Liberal Regulations Hampering Efforts to Fight Alberta Wildfires

[5x5]

Interesting article in the National Post. I've included the link if anyone wants to go to the Post directly but also copied in the text of the article if you want to stay here.

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/libera ... -wildfires

New safety rules for helicopters and small airplanes are so strict, they’re threatening public safety in rural Canada.

The new regulations by Transport Canada took effect in December; they’ve narrowed the window of time in which pilots can fly, exacerbated Canada’s pilot shortage and have reduced essential services and emergency response capacity. It’s a well-intentioned move with poor execution — and it should be reversed, for the sake of rural Canada.

Most recently, the rules are a cause for concern in Alberta. The province declared a state of emergency with more than 100 wildfires raging on Saturday (as of Friday, we’re down to 74). Small aircraft are essential to fight fires, providing waterbombing and performing medical evacuations. Now, pilots are unnecessarily saddled with interpreting unclear Transport Canada rules.

What exactly changed? It’s a bit technical. Small aircraft pilots do two main types of work. One is “aerial work” which includes waterbombing, surveying, transporting suspended loads, sometimes transporting people, and more. The other, “air taxi” and “commuter” work, mainly involves transporting people inside the aircraft. Before Dec. 12, 2023, both types of work permitted 14-hour shifts. As of Dec. 12, “air taxi” and “commuter” work has been restricted to shifts of nine to 13 hours.

It’s rather arbitrary because the work is about the same from the perspective of the pilot. Now, though, pilots who have a few hours left in their shift after waterbucketing all day (“aerial work”) can’t confidently transport people late into their shift. It sounds like a small difference, but the time it takes to radio in a fresh helicopter can mean the difference between life and death in an emergency.

Transport Canada has told me that medevacs and firefighting fall under the less-restrictive type of work. But legal ambiguities mean that pilots in the field are unsure of how to manage work that seems to fall into both categories, and fear the consequences of non-compliance if they guess wrong, says Trevor Mitchell, president and CEO of the Helicopter Association of Canada. In talking with pilots fighting Alberta’s wildfires, he adds, the new rules are the biggest topic being discussed on the fire line.

“What I’m hearing right now today … is that this is the only topic being discussed on the fire line,” Mitchell said earlier this week. “We as an association have been asking for guidance by the federal government on these issues since before the new regulations took effect … and we still haven’t seen any.”

The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre told me it could not comment on the impact of the new rules for this story, and Transport Canada would not answer whether it is monitoring the effect of the new rules on firefighting efforts. The Government of Alberta did not respond in time to questions on the matter.

The new rules have nationwide consequences. Each individual pilot in the country has less available flight time if they do work that’s restricted under the new rules, which means companies need more pilots to maintain the same level of service.

Except, more pilots aren’t available because Canada is under a pilot shortage. Industry publication VerticalMag reported that from 2017 to 2019, the country lost about a quarter of its helicopter pilots. Meanwhile, commercial pilot license issuances in Canada have dropped by more than 80 per cent since 2019. Industry warned that shortages would be a problem back when the rules were drafts, but it apparently fell on deaf ears.

The pilot shortage and new regs have left the community of Grand Manan in New Brusnwick without a locally-based air ambulance — since December, the community has to rely on off-island air ambulance services and even the military to get emergency transport to hospital.

“New Transport Canada regulations came into effect on December 12, 2022. These new rules impact our operation which have been outlined numerous times to the responsible parties,” wrote Atlantic Charters, the company that once provided local medevac services to the island, in a statement on Facebook. “Under the new regulations we are unable to accept medevacs without the necessary support and need to add additional crew to be in be compliance with the new regulations.”

Small aircraft companies in Atlantic Canada, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Ontario and Quebec all reported similar constraints in this month’s cover story of Skies Magazine, an aviation publication. This means for shorter clinic days for communities that need doctors flown in, or far fewer charter flights being made available. Similar problems have been reported in Saskatchewan.

The Northern Air Transport Association’s executive director, Glenn Priestly, says that regulatory impacts have reduced medevac availability in northern communities; he’s concerned about what less connectivity will mean for northern law and order. More flexible rules are needed.

The association has submitted alternate suggestions to Transport Canada to make rules more flexible for small aircraft, which is needed in the north, but it received little response. Both it and the Helicopter Association of Canada want more dialogue with Transport Canada, but the feds aren’t really interested in discussion.

Transport Canada offered one sort-of olive branch: Aircraft companies can submit their own fatigue management plans and operate under them as an exemption for up to three years (if rejected, they have to go back to the prescribed rules, and if approved, they can fly under their plans indefinitely). In practice, though, this is often too risky to be workable. Depending on the size of the company, it can cost $220,000 to make a plan — and there’s no guarantee such plans will be approved. Mitchell says that numerous helicopter companies have submitted plans to the feds, but none have been approved.

The regulator’s goal in all this is to reduce the risk pilot fatigue — admirable, but the new rules only make sense for big airliners where the work is consistent day-to-day and scheduling is done far in advance. Small aircraft pilots have more ad-hoc work and more time in the shop. They need different rules, just like different rules are needed for small boats and tankers, and for city taxis and 18-wheelers.

Everyone I’ve spoken with in the industry has been enthusiastic about safety, and everyone is happy to make better rules to manage fatigue. The trouble here is that Transport Canada’s rules don’t fit.

“The federal government has come in and basically told pilots in the helicopter industry … that we are going to make it so difficult that you cannot make a living doing this anymore,” Mitchell says. He adds that the public is the other “big loser” in this situation; I agree.

In the coast, in the mountains and in the north, rural communities and remote workers all need a reliable link to the rest of Canada — and that link has been broken by Transport Canada. Good intentions aside, the bureaucracy’s zeal for safety is itself a threat to public safety.

National Post

[‘Bob’]

An opinion article which first had the task of somehow sewering the Liberals… and then finding a way to do it.

Canada’s duty regs were archaic, dangerous, and well overdue for overhaul.. and 702 still requires you to fly crazy hours.

And for what? To save some trees? Some insurance companies bottom lines?

Why did Ft Mac burn down with “conservative, slave driver, legislate-you-back-to-work and replace you with TFWs” regulations?

[North Shore]

^^Tell me that the reporter has never flown fires, or ever talked to anyone who's done it, without actually telling me.

It’s rather arbitrary because the work is about the same from the perspective of the pilot. Now, though, pilots who have a few hours left in their shift after waterbucketing all day (“aerial work”) can’t confidently transport people late into their shift.

Now, I've got to admit that I've never bucketed all day in my life - but I have done 100+ drops in a day from a tanker, and I'd imagine that the demands are pretty similar - and there's no way that fatigue isnt a *huge* issue after that much time in a very fatiguing environment. And now you want me to run to the end of my duty day carrying passengers? I'd imagine that the reason that 705 is more restrictive than 704,3 is because of the passenger factor!

[pelmet]

Agree. This is all covered as government expense in the end. Hire more pilots and have them flying less hours each.

If anything, it probably should be stricter.

[digits_]

They are right. It's ridiculous. 702 should follow the same duty regs as 703.

Let's not abuse 'emergency' here. If the helicopter is dutying out, get the crews out of the fire earlier. Hire more crew if you need more. Give pilots a full time contract instead of relying on contract work for core operations.

Who even wants to be on an airplane or helicopter with a pilot who is dehydrated and exhausted after working for 14 hours? Ridiculous.

[8675309]

Just a bit of a side topic here and I don’t agree with anything TC has done in the last 15 years, but the numbers of diminishing pilots expressed by the very unprofessional news media is bull shit. If they took the time to read the rest of the information where they discovered this dramatic reduction in the pilot and controller pool is absolutely not what they reported. The numbers have been taken from the renewal of medicals over the years and because of covid, most self declared the last few which has falsely shown a number the media couldn’t wait to sensationalize and dramatize. 80% reduction? Really? I know there is a lack of bush jockeys and ones needed for the commuters but there is no way the numbers are down what they have reported. Just poor source gathering for a dramatic story. Ok. I hate the media. Real numbers would be more informative on how the industry is doing rather than this crap. I feel better.

[FL030]

There's no pilot shortage there's a wage shortage. Don't let these companies try to claim that duty regs are the problem.

[pelmet]

I’m sure if the firefighting companies need more pilots, they will just advertise for them. Is anybody aware of any of those companies hiring these days. I don’t see any ads, so I’m sure they are fine. They just bring in our-of-province aircraft if they need more lift temporarily.

[photofly]

The numbers have been taken from the renewal of medicals over the years and because of covid, most self declared the last few which has falsely shown a number the media couldn’t wait to sensationalize and dramatize. 80% reduction? Really?

The article says "commercial pilot license issuances in Canada have dropped by more than 80 per cent since 2019" - are you saying that's incorrect?

[Aviatard]

The numbers have been taken from the renewal of medicals over the years and because of covid, most self declared the last few which has falsely shown a number the media couldn’t wait to sensationalize and dramatize. 80% reduction? Really?

The article says "commercial pilot license issuances in Canada have dropped by more than 80 per cent since 2019" - are you saying that's incorrect?

It’s incorrect. In 2019 approximate 1700 CPL licenses were issued. In 2022 there were approximately 1500 issued. Since 2000 licenses exceeded 1500 only 3 times with 2019 being the high water mark. Source: TC.

IMG_2480.jpeg (212.96 KiB) Viewed 956 times

[MOAB]

Any drop is because they tie incenses to medicals processed. I haven’t had my $55 medical processing fee since 2019, and when I called transport to inquire they laughed and said they were years behind.