Canada, the first country in the world to require its aviation community to implement safety management systems (SMSs), should expand the requirement to all commercial operators, a committee of the Canadian Parliament says.1
The House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities said, in a report released in late June detailing its review of aviation safety in Canada, that SMS — required since 2008 for major airlines and airport operators and since 2009 for air navigation service providers — should also be mandatory for the air taxi sector and other commercial operators.
The report said that Transport Canada (TC) should pair the SMS requirement with more on-site safety inspections. Poor results from SMS audits, including comments from whistleblowers, should serve as “a flag for prioritizing on-site inspections,” the report said. In addition, the document called for policies on whistleblowers to be reviewed to ensure adequate protection…
