Marc Garneau stands by Transport Canada recommendation on runway safety
Transport Minister Marc Garneau will support lower-than-maximum emergency standards for Canadian airport runways, with his office saying they will stand by minimum international standards.
As Metro first reported last week, Transport Canada is currently consulting on a proposed safety standard for “end safety areas” on runways.
The department launched consultations on the issue last fall recommending a 150-metre safety area, a buffer with clear level ground, at the end of Canadian airports in case a plane overshoots the runway. The current standard only requires 60 metres, while encouraging 150 metres.
The Transportation Safety Board, which investigates accidents, has recommended for almost 10 years that the government increase the distance to 300 metres.
The International Civil Aviation Organization’s minimum is 150 metres, but they also recommend 300 metres, and the longer distance is standard at American airports.
“Our position is to follow with the International Civil Aviation Organization’s international standard of 150 meters,” said Garneau’s press secretary, Delphine Denis, in an email to Metro.
The Transportation Safety Board’s recommendations come out of the 2005 Air France crash at Toronto’s Pearson airport, in which a plane with over 300 people on board shot off the runway and caught fire.
Denis they said they’re committed to improving air travel and want to get the issue right.