FEDERAL – Upon launching Rail Safety Week, which runs from April 27 to May 3 this year, federal Minister of Transport Lisa Raitt announced on April 27 that Transport Canada (TC) would invest in railway-crossing improvements. The government will provide funding of more than $9.7 million through its Grade Crossing Improvement Program (GCIP) this year, aimed at upgrading more than 600 rail crossings across the country, Raitt said. Among the GCIP’s planned improvements are installations of warning lights, bells and barriers, new circuits or timing devices and brighter LED lights, according to a TC press release. Factors that will determine the types of upgrades include traffic volume and accident history. “A safe and secure national rail-transportation system is important to local communities and to Canada’s economic well-being,” Raitt said in a press statement. “Through the Grade Crossing Improvement Program, our government is helping to enhance safety for pedestrians and motorists at over 600 railway crossings across the country.” On April 23, Raitt issued an emergency directive to Canadian rail companies, requiring train speeds not to exceed 64 kilometres per hour in highly urbanized areas and companies to increase risk assessments and inspections along rail routes commonly used for transporting dangerous goods.
Category Archives: Transportation
Calgary police seeking man who assaulted cabbie
CALGARY, Alta. – The Calgary Police Service (CPS) announced on April 15 that it was looking for information from the public about a man who had attacked a taxi driver last year. On Aug. 10, the driver picked up a male passenger and drove him across the city at about 12:30 in the morning, according to a CPS press release. After paying his fare, the passenger suddenly punched the cab driver in the face several times and began choking him. The attacker did not attempt to rob the taxi, but left the driver with facial injuries. The CPS did not state any reason for the attack, but added that the assailant had subsequently fled on foot and that the driver had tried to attract attention with the car horn. The release described the perpetrator as Caucasian with red hair, of medium build, about 1.7 metres in height and unshaven; at the time of the attack, the man reportedly wore a beige, long-sleeve shirt, jeans and a beige baseball cap. The CPS requested of anyone with information about the incident or identifying the attacker to call (403) 266-1234 or provide an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers.
Loss of engine power caused 2013 Bearskin crash
RED LAKE, Ont. – A near-total power loss in the plane’s left engine led to the fatal crash of a Bearskin Airlines flight in Red Lake, Ont. on Nov. 10, 2013, according to a new investigation report from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB). The Fairchild SA227 Metro III aircraft, carrying two pilots and five passengers, was on its final approach to the Red Lake airport when it struck trees and power lines and subsequently caught on fire; both pilots and three of the passengers were killed, while the other two were sent to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries (COHSN, Nov. 18, 2013). The TSB report, published on April 14 of this year, revealed that the failure of an internal engine component had caused a significant loss of power in the left engine, about 150 metres above the ground and eight kilometres from the airport. The plane then lost air speed due to a combination of the power loss and higher drag caused by its landing configuration, and the pilots lost control at a height where recovery was impossible. The TSB’s report on the incident is available online at http://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-reports/aviation/2013/A13C0150/A13C0150.asp.
Pilots dead after cargo plane crashes in B.C. mountains
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) is investigating the crash of a Carson Air cargo aircraft in the North Shore Mountains, just north of Vancouver, on April 13. The accident killed the plane’s two pilots.
Carson Air Flight 66 was on its way from Vancouver to Prince George when it went missing that morning, losing radar contact with air traffic control at 7:08 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. Search crews found the wreckage and the pilots’ bodies among wooded terrain on the southeast side of Crown Mountain at about 1:00 p.m. PST, according to Bill Yearwood, the TSB’s manager of regional operations for air operations in the Pacific.
The TSB deployed a team of investigators to the crash scene on April 14, to gather information and assess the incident, the Board announced in a press release.
At an afternoon press conference at the RCMP’s North Vancouver office on the 14th, Yearwood told reporters that Flight 66 had likely spiraled into an uncontrolled descent. The pilots apparently lost control of the plane as it fell from 2,400 metres above the ground to 900 metres – the altitude of the impact with terrain – in less than a minute.
“The radar track showed a very steep descent,” said Yearwood. “The crew did not call, declare an emergency or have any stress, which gives us an idea that whatever happened, happened suddenly.” He called the radar track’s data on the aircraft’s descent speed “consistent with uncontrolled flight.”
Because the plane, a twin-engine Swearingen SA-226 Metro II, did not have voice- or flight-data-recording systems in its cockpit, the TSB needs to determine the cause of the crash by putting together all the physical evidence, Yearwood added.
“The management and staff of Carson Air are grieving with the families on the loss of two of our co-workers,” the airline said in a press statement following the tragedy. “Our hearts go out to the families and friends of our flight crew. Our focus is on helping the families and our staff through this exceedingly difficult event.”
Carson added that it would not release the victim’s names publicly, as per the families’ request. “In this time of tremendous grief, we ask that the privacy of the families be respected,” the company said.
But the B.C. Coroners Service – which is also investigating the incident – has since identified the victims as Robert Brandt, 34, and Kevin Wang, 32, both from Vancouver.
“We are working with all agencies involved to determine the cause of this tragedy,” said Carson.
Paparazzo arrested after run-in with Ryan Reynolds
VANCOUVER, B.C. – A Richmond-based photographer who allegedly struck actor Ryan Reynolds with his car on April 10 could face a charge of “intimidation”, according to a press release from the Vancouver Police Department (VPD). According to police information, the 52-year-old paparazzo approached a “local actor” in the underground parking garage of a Vancouver hotel at about 7:00 p.m. that day, resulting in a confrontation. The photographer then hit the actor with his car and sped away from the hotel. The victim didn’t sustain any significant injuries, but after reviewing security-camera footage and interviewing witnesses, the VPD located and confronted the driver on April 12. Police arrested him the following day and recommended charges of intimidation. Under the Criminal Code, intimidation applies to someone who, in trying to compel someone else to do or not to do something, “uses violence or threats of violence to that person… or injures his or her property,” the VPD noted in the release. Reynolds, reportedly working at the Vancouver location of the upcoming movie Deadpool, confirmed on his Twitter account that he was the actor involved in the incident.
Conductor dies on the job at Saskatchewan rail yard
A train conductor lost his life at a rail yard just outside of Saskatoon, in a work accident on the evening of April 9.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) sent a team of investigators to the scene of the incident, according to a press release that the Board put out on the morning following the tragedy. The release noted that the incident had involved the death of a Canadian National Rail (CN) employee, but no other information was available from the TSB as of press time.
“We are sending two investigators,” TSB media rep Julie Leroux told COHSN. “It’s near Saskatoon; I don’t have the exact location.”
But Teamsters Canada, the union that represents CN’s rail conductors, has identified the victim as Kevin Timmerman.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the conductor who died in this tragic accident,” Teamsters Canada rail conference vice president Roland Hackl said in a press statement on the day after the incident. “We won’t make any comments before the investigation is over.”
Media reports have described Timmerman as a 51-year-old Melville man who worked as a conductor for the rail company for decades. His mother told CBC News on April 11 that he had begun working as a CN conductor at the age of 16.
According to information from CN, Timmerman was fatally injured while working at the railway’s Chappell Yard at about 10:30 p.m. on the 9th. After paramedics arrived, an ambulance reportedly rushed him to Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon with life-threatening injures, but he suffered a cardiac arrest on the way to the facility and later died.
This incident comes as CN, and Canada’s rail industry overall, is facing scrutiny over its occupational safety standards, following three separate derailments of CN freight trains in Northern Ontario earlier this year – two of which occurred near Gogoma, a small community between Sudbury and Timmins. The third, on March 7, involved the derailment of 30 cars, triggering a fire and oil pollution of the Mattagami River System (COHSN, March 17).
The TSB investigators are gathering information at the accident site and will use it to evaluate the incident.
Government slashing funding to all Transport Canada safety programs
FEDERAL – The Harper government is cutting funding to all of the safety programs with Transport Canada, particularly to safety-oversight initiatives, according to planning documents tabled at the House of Commons on March 31. Global News has reported that the budget for the transportation of dangerous goods will be reduced by 32 per cent, with a 9.2 per cent decrease in funding for aviation safety. In addition, funds for marine, rail and motor-vehicle safety are being cut by 23, 4.3 and 8.8 per cent respectively, as per calculations using the forecast transportation spending for the 2014-15 fiscal year and planned transportation spending for 2015-16. There will also be a two per cent decrease in funding to rail safety programs between the 2015-16 and 2017-18 periods. The departmental planning documents attributed the cuts to funding transfers, internal reallocation and severance payoffs, as well as spikes in activity regarding marine safety and transportation of dangerous goods, according to the Global report. The news follows several high-profile transportation safety incidents earlier this year, including the Air Canada Flight 624 crash in Halifax (COHSN, March 31) and three Canadian National train derailments in Northern Ontario (COHSN, March 17).
TTC requests police help to investigate subway assault
Following the recent public media exposure of a video of the occurrence, Chief Executive Officer Andy Byford of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) has asked the Toronto Police Service (TPS) to investigate a violent incident that occurred between two men and two Transit Enforcement Officers (TEO) on Jan. 29.
Following a Toronto Maple Leafs game at the Air Canada Centre that evening, two of the returning attendees became involved in a scuffle with a TEO at the underground subway concourse at Union Station, according to an April 1 press statement from the TTC. Another TEO joined the melee, and the police were contacted, resulting in criminal charges for assault against both of the hockey fans.
Media reports have identified the two charged men as 63-year-old Russell Gillman and his son, 33-year-old Jamie Gillman.
“The incident did not involve a fare dispute, though the provocation remains unknown,” the TTC statement read. “Given the seriousness of this matter, the TTC has requested the police to independently review the incident.”
Videos of the fight were posted on YouTube and other social-media outlets. On March 31, the story reached a higher profile when the Toronto Star posted one of the videos on its website. The video shows the TEOs responding to the alleged perpetrators with violence, including throwing punches at the side of one man while the latter kneels on the floor and punching the other in the face as he stands against a wall.
“The TTC wants to ensure any use of force by its officers is justified and that approved procedures are always followed,” the TTC stated. “Complaints about the conduct of TEOs are typically handled by a separate unit within the TTC’s human-resources department.
“No public complaints have been filed about this incident.”
The TPS’ Professional Standards Unit will be leading the investigation, and the TTC will hand over all CCTV footage of the incident to the police for a full review.
The TTC trains its TEOs to uphold the standards of the police in all of their confrontations with passengers, the transit company said; their methods include communication and de-escalation techniques, with use of force as a last resort. “It is for this reason that the TTC is seeking the assistance of police in independently reviewing the matter and looks forward to the conclusion of their investigation,” the TTC noted.
“Public safety is the TTC’s first priority; public trust in those charged with maintaining that safety must follow.”
TTC subway line to use one-person crews next year
TORONTO, Ont. – The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) has approved a plan to employ one-person crews on Line 4 of its subway, a route that runs through five stops along Sheppard Avenue East from Yonge Street to Don Mills Road. At a board meeting on March 26, TTC management proposed a move to One Person Train Operation (OPTO) for the line by the end of 2016. “Technology has developed so that one crew member can safely drive the train and operate door controls,” TTC chief executive officer Andy Byford noted in a Staff Action Report on March 26. “No subway has reverted back to two-person operation on the grounds of safety,” he added, citing Montreal, Chicago, London, Paris, Berlin and several other cities where OPTO is standard procedure. The document also stated that there was no evidence worldwide that OPTO increased safety risks. Nonetheless, some are skeptical, including Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 president Bob Kinnear and transit advocate Steve Munro. Kinnear told Centennial College newspaper The Toronto Observer on March 30 that the union did not consider OPTO a safe practice.
Ship crew rescued after power failure, entangled sail
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) rescued nine crew members of the Halifax-based tall ship Liana’s Ransom on March 30, after the boat’s engines had become disabled and high winds had entangled its sails around the mast.
The Sector Boston Command Center (SBCC) was notified of the schooner’s problems at about 12:35 a.m. that morning, according to a USCG news release. Search-and-rescue crews from the Coast Guard responded immediately, as did those from Air Station Cape Cod and the Coast Guard Cutter Ocracoke (CGCO). Liana’s Ransom’s entire crew eventually transferred from the ship to the USCG’s motor lifeboats, about 93 kilometres east of Gloucester, Massachusetts.
One man injured his head while leaping into a lifeboat and was airlifted to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, the USCG said. The other eight were brought safely to the rescue station in Gloucester.
“It was fortunate for the crew of the vessel that the owner reached out to us,” SBCC command-duty officer Jay Woodhead said, as quoted in the press release.
Woodhead was referring to Ryan Tilley, the ship’s owner and crew captain. Tilley had made the decision to radio for help and abandon ship.
“Captain Ryan Tilley made the… right call in the best interests of his crew, and as a father, I am very proud of the way he and his crew handled the situation,” Tilley’s father, Joseph, wrote in a post on the Liana’s Ransom Facebook page on March 31. “As befits a captain, he was the last crew [member] to depart the vessel, ensuring all water-tight doors and hatches were closed before he disembarked.
“We can happily report that everyone is safe and secure ashore,” Joseph Tilley added.
Liana’s Ransom left Nova Scotia for St. Maarten, Dutch West Indies at about 6:00 p.m. on March 27, according to the elder Tilley’s previous post, which was dated that evening; he had been planning to board the ship in the Bahamas. But the ship suffered a full power failure over the weekend, causing it to drift in the ocean as the waves swelled up to three metres high, while rough winds caused the sails to wrap around the mast.
Joseph Tilley also noted that the ship had been repaired in a shipyard before the journey. “You can see the craftsmanship in the rebuilt wheel,” he wrote, calling the repair job “some very fine work.”
Media reports have stated that three of the crew members became extremely seasick shortly after the schooner left Canada.
The USCG noted that the rescuers had left a locator beacon on Liana’s Ransom and that the CGCO was on its way to the schooner to evaluate the prospect of towing it to shore.
“We are hopeful that the tow operation goes well,” the elder Tilley said.
A 25-metre-long schooner with steel hulls, Liana’s Ransom was built in Houston in 2005, according to information from the ship’s official website. After buying the ship, the Tilley family converted it into a two-mast, gaff-rigged, square-topsail schooner of the style favoured by pirates and privateers in the 18th Century.
“She has all of the latest safety features and navigation aids and meets or exceeds all Transport Canada requirements,” the website states.
In his post following the incident, Joseph Tilley thanked the USCG for its professionalism and prompt response.
“Thank you to everyone for your concern,” he wrote.