Aviation – Cheap Research Essays

Aviation
Case One
You have obtained a job working Air Canada and have recently been called into the office of
your manager. She has heard that you have studied aviation law at school and wants to ask for
your opinion about an incident that had occurred recently. She explains that at Halifax
International Airport, a AC Boeing 737 aircraft was damaged while being pushed back from the
gate prior to takeoff. The damages to AC’s aircraft was in excess of $150,000.00. The company
providing the push back was called Hudson. The airport is operated by Transport Canada.
She explains that during the push back on the apron, the plane suddenly jack knifed and spun
about, striking another plane that was nearby. There was a large ice patch under the aircraft at the
location where the collision occurred. The ice was sanded and pocked with pavement showing in
areas. There was sand embedded in the ice and loose on top. Immediately preceding contact, the
aircraft moved forward and the nosewheel swung around carrying the tow tractor with it. The
tractor was attached to the nosewheel of the craft by a rigid towbar. The nosewheel of the craft
made an arc in the ice. In its resting position after the accident, at least one of the back wheels of
the aircraft was on ice. There was a scrape mark in the pavement behind the back wheel which
mark extended onto ice.
Aprons are the areas adjacent to the terminal where the aircraft manoeuver before and after
takeoff. The apron area is thirty to forty acres. Included in the aprons are the taxiways on which
an aircraft proceeds, under its own power, to and from the runway. On the part of the apron
closest the terminal are marked “lead in lines”. These are guidelines painted on the pavement and
followed by an aircraft to move under its own power to the gate and used by pushback operators
to move the aircraft away from the gate. While aircraft may travel on any area of the apron, they
generally follow the lead in lines to ensure lining up properly with the gate. There was a large
patch of ice on the lead in line in the path of this aircraft.
The accident occurred at 8 a.m., on Monday February 26, 2015. There had been a major ice and
snow storm on Saturday February 24, which ended in the early morning hours of Sunday
February 25. The aircraft had arrived at the gate about 7:30 pm Sunday evening, moving under its
own power. While the snow removal crews do not normally work the weekend, they had worked
until 5:30 p.m., on Sunday February 25. The airport duty managers had the authority to keep the
crews working overnight, if necessary. The next regular shift began at 7:30 a.m., on Monday
February 26. The apron had been spot sanded on Sunday February 25.
An inspection by Transport Canada after the accident revealed that the apron was about 30% ice
covered. Temperatures had dropped dramatically after the storm such that the chemical urea,
normally used to melt ice, was not effective. Transport Canada’s only option was sanding or
physical removal of the ice patch. It was not unusual to find icy conditions on the aprons at the
Halifax airport, particularly following a storm. The fact that the ice patch was spot sanded
indicates that Transport Canada must be taken to have known it was there.
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While it was not unusual for there to be ice patches on the apron, the pilot received no
information from the control tower, or otherwise, that there was a large patch of ice on the lead in
line at gate 15. The co-pilot walked about the aircraft just prior to pushback looking for hazards
on the body of the aircraft and in the immediate vicinity. There is some evidence that the
nosewheel of the craft may have been resting on a patch of ice while at the gate. The ice involved
in the accident, however, was some distance from the gate and would not be seen by the co-pilot
in his inspection.
Transport Canada believes that the accident may have been caused or contributed to by the pilots
powering up the engines during the pushback procedure. Alternatively, Transport says the pilots
inadvertently thrust up the engines beyond startup power, which caused the accident. The pilots
state that it is standard procedure to start the engines during pushback. It is a time saving measure
and creates no hazard. Captain Randall Beck stated that the engines are only powered to the
minimum stabilized stage which, while creating some thrust, would not ordinarily move the
aircraft. Both Captain Beck and First Officer Dennis Ring testified that neither of them advanced
the thrust levers. Any increased thrust would have been visible on the gauges which were being
monitored by Officer Ring.
Pursuant to contracts entered into, AC pays significant airport user fees at each airport, part of
which fees are meant to be used to maintain the airports in a safe condition for the use of
airplanes. Transport Canada is also the occupier of the airport and Hudson was contracted by it to
provide the push back services.
After explaining the above to you, your manager has asked you for any advice you can provide
about the legal situation involved and asks whether this is something they should be speaking to
their lawyers about.
Assignment:
In preparing your response to your manager please address the following:
1)
Contractual Issues
2)
Tort (Intentional and/or Negligence) Issues; and
3)
Using the sophisticated client principles, advise your manager as to whether this is
something AC should be talking to their lawyers about.