From 2006 to 2015, Montreal has been home to 83 aviation accidents – almost double what other cities in Canada have seen according to data released by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada in February.

For some, this statistic may not seem too surprising. Montreal is home to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport – a flying hub which is currently the fourth busiest airport in Canada.

Out of the 83 recorded accidents in the Montreal area however, only 12 of them actually occurred at Pierre Elliott Trudeau International. The remaining accidents occurred at eight smaller airports in the area which are typically used for flight training and recreational use.

According to Mark Clipsome, an aviation investigator for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, the high number of accidents in the Montreal area is typical, given the logistical challenges present at smaller airport facilities.

“Smaller places are not equipped with the same infrastructure that a bigger airport would have,” Clipsome said.

“For example, at smaller airports, there’s not always air traffic control towers or paved runways – they may have grass or gravel runways instead.”

When air traffic control facilities are not available at an airport, pilots must be diligent in communicating their intentions on the radio, and must be extra vigilant when flying close to the airport to ensure that they have proper clearance. Without a second set of eyes to watch out for potential collisions, there is a higher risk of human error causing a potential accident.

Located 20 kilometres outside of Montreal, Mascouche airport is one facility which deals with a lot of air traffic, but does not have a control tower to oversee operations.

The Transportation Safety Board has recorded 30 accidents at Mascouche airport over the past ten years, including a recent accident on Dec. 28, 2015 where a Mooney M20K plane crashed onto the side of Highway 640 East. As a result of the accident, the pilot later died in hospital and his nine-year-old son was treated for serious injuries.

The Transportation Safety Board has not yet determined the cause of that accident, but Clipsome notes that recreational flying poses a higher risk of danger in comparison to commercial flying.

“Smaller airplanes tend to have smaller instrument systems, so they may only have one altimeter or one air speed indicator which are very basic instruments,” said Clipsome.

On the other hand, commercial pilots typically have multiple instrument sets to use while flying and usually have a co-pilot which can assist with tasks in the cockpit.

Clipsome says that pilot inexperience is also a contributing factor to the higher number of accidents at smaller airports.

A portion of a research study annotated in DocumentCloud:

(Click inside the annotation to see the entire document and other annotations)

Source: Human Factors Journal, Vol. 55 Issue 2: Hangar Talk Survey – Using Stories as a Naturalistic Method of Informing Threat and Error Management Training

“We don’t see as many accidents at large airports because commercial pilots have a lot of training on decision making and crew resource management,” said Clipsome.
“Commercial pilots also are flying all the time whereas many recreational pilots only fly maybe two or three times a year.”

Mascouche airport is also home to Cargair – a local flight school where new pilots are able to practice their skills before obtaining their private pilot’s license. Just like with novice drivers, student pilots are more prone to accidents as they develop their skills, and are more likely to cause accidents that result from human error.

A portion of a research study annotated in DocumentCloud:

(Click inside the annotation to see the entire document and other annotations)

Source: Human Factors Journal, Vol. 55 Issue 2: Hangar Talk Survey – Using Stories as a Naturalistic Method of Informing Threat and Error Management Training

While the city of Montreal has the highest number of aviation accidents in comparison to other cities, the total number of aviation accidents in Canada has remained stable over the past couple of years, according to the Transportation Safety Board.

In an emailed statement, the Transportation Safety Board notes that safety issues are constantly being reviewed and evaluated to make sure that Canadian airspace is as safe as possible.

“We review the data every time we investigate an accident and design our recommendations around our previous findings,” said Clipsome.

“Our database is something that’s constantly evolving.”