Scathing report into Ornge air ambulance

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Shocking corporate oversight and cutbacks, along with industry-wide inadequacies were the cause of the deadly Ornge helicopter crash that killed four people including a Burlington-born paramedic back in 2013. The country’s Transportation Safety Board released the findings of their lengthy investigation earlier today and supplied a list of changes that need to be made to make sure this never happens again.

The crash that killed four people including Burlington native Chris Snowball started with a routine manuever in the middle of the night out of Moosenee.
“During that turn the bank started increasing a bit which would make the nose want to drop so when they identified that it was turning and decending by the time that happened it was too late and the aircraft impacted with the ground.” Daryl Collins, lead investigator.

Transportation Safety Board of Canada chair Kathy Fox says the crew alone isn’t to blame.
“Ornge R.W., it was operating with insufficient inexperienced personelle in key positions which allowed unsafe conditions to develop and persist.”

The investigation revealed that Ornge gave little time for job-specifc training. The air ambulance operator never had night-flying procedures. Lastly, job elimination resulted in a centralized scheduling system that often set up inadeqaute pilot tandems. What’s worse, is that Transportation Canada knew about Ornge’s shortcomings but were were inconsistent in their approach to make changes. Thus, 14 recommendations were suggested to Transport Canada.

“Our recommendations will help ensure that the right equipment is on board, that pilots are suitably prepared and that operators that can’t effectively manage the safety of their operations will face not just a warning but a firm hand of the regulator.”

Some of the recommendations include enhanced oversight policies, improved night visual rules and terrain warning systems be implemented in all commercial choppers. Since the crash Orgne plans on implementing night-vision goggles by winter 2017, increased pilot flight testing and replacing their older choppers with more advanced models. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada’s 14 recommendations were directed to Transport Canada and not Ornge, since they’ve implemented changes since that 2013 crash, but according to the Paramedic Union, that’s not good enough.