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Transportation Safety Board of Canada / Transportation Safety Board of Canada

TSB Quarterly Review — Third quarter 2019-20

ISSN 2369-7954

January 2020

Chair's message

As we ease into the new year, it’s a good time to take stock of some of what we accomplished in the previous one. During the third quarter of fiscal year 2019–20, the TSB deployed investigators to 13 occurrence sites across the country, started 12 investigations, released 14 investigation reports, and issued 5 recommendations. It goes without saying that we’ve been busy. Here, then, are a few highlights from the past three months.  

In October, we concluded our investigation into a Hydro One Networks helicopter that collided with terrain near Tweed, Ontario (A17O0264). The TSB concluded that there is ambiguity in the Canadian Aviation Regulations concerning the use of shoulder harnesses, and we recommended that Transport Canada amend the definition of safety belt to remove this ambiguity. In doing so, we also sent a message to passengers, crews and operators: buckle up! It can save lives.

In November, we released an exhaustive four-year study of air taxi operations in Canada (A15H0001). The final report contained four recommendations aimed at raising the bar on safety, and hopefully reducing the number of accidents and fatalities in a sector that already has far too many.

Finally, we made sure that we spent a good part of the past few months listening to industry—specifically, we held a series of consultations with stakeholders across the country and attended key conferences to get feedback on the Watchlist. Although we’re still analyzing all the information, we would like once again to send our sincerest thanks to all those who participated.

As we enter into a new year, and a new decade, we reiterate our commitment to advancing transportation safety and reducing risk for all Canadians, whether at home or abroad, as evidenced by our recent deployment of two TSB investigators to Iran, following the Ukrainian International Airlines occurrence.

Kathy Fox

New Director of Marine Investigations

Clifford Harvey Director of Marine Investigations

Clifford Harvey joined the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) in November 2019, as Director of Marine Investigations. Mr. Harvey is a marine engineer with over 25 years of experience as a public servant in the marine industry. See his extended biography.

Tug girding video

Between 2005 and 2018, the TSB received reports of 26 girding situations that resulted in 21 capsizings. In response, the TSB created this video to illustrate the factors leading to girding and the recovery methods.The video has received international recognition and been viewed over 78 thousand times! Watch it here.

Completed investigations

Post-deployment summaries

Investigation updates

New investigation pages