Ambulance N.B. flight made emergency landing over safety hazard
A piece of equipment was left hanging off plane during a flight to get a patient in Bathurst in March
An Ambulance New Brunswick flight to pick up a patient in Bathurst earlier this year had to make an emergency landing after taking off with a tow bar attached to it.
The tow bar, used with a tractor to help an aircraft get from a hangar or airport apron to the runway, caused rudder issues for the pilots as they approached their destination, forcing them to turn back for an emergency landing in Moncton, according to a Transport Canada incident report.
The metal bar usually measures about two metres in length.
Worst of all it could fall to the ground and hit somebody.- George Dewar, former Transport Canada civil aviation inspector
A former Transport Canada civil aviation inspector says leaving the bar attached during flight "could be extremely dangerous."
"It could hit another part of the airplane, it could hit the propellers," said George Dewar, who worked as an inspector for Transport Canada for more than two decades and has experience flying the same type of plane that was used by Ambulance New Brunswick.
"And probably worst of all it could fall to the ground and hit somebody."
The Voyageur Airways Beech B200 made the emergency landing on March 3 during the night, according to the Transport Canada report.
Since the plane didn't reach the patient in Bathurst, the ill or injured person had to be transferred by land in an ambulance to their destination.
'Very rare'
Dewar said not removing the tow bar before takeoff is so uncommon he's only heard of it happening once before in his years working in the aviation industry.
"It's very, very rare," said Dewar.
The Transport Canada report indicates the plane prepared to land in Bathurst, but then the pilot "had a rudder problem and requested a clearance back to Moncton with emergency response services."
Once the plane landed, the crew realized the tow bar hadn't been removed and the landing gear doors were damaged.
"This sort of incident should not happen ... somebody made a mistake," said David Jeanes, a spokesperson for Transport Action Canada, a safety advocacy group.
"There should be procedures and check lists and responsibilities to prevent mistakes like this or accidents from happening," said Jeanes.
Ambulance New Brunswick, which is a Crown corporation that provides ambulance service in the province, has a contract with Voyageur Airways Ltd. to provide air transfers of patients to specialized hospitals across the Maritimes, Quebec and Ontario.
"The air carrier has performed a comprehensive review to ensure there would not be a repeat of such an event," said Yvon Bourque, director of operations for Ambulance New Brunswick, in a statement.
CBC News contacted Voyageur Airways for an interview, but has not received a response.
Grand Manan crash
The plane in the Aug. 16 2014 accident was operated by Atlantic Charters, another air carrier contracted by Ambulance New Brunswick, only serving Grand Manan.
The TSB report found the pilot lost visual references in the fog, but it also found the pilot who installed the air ambulance system did not have approved training.
The system included an ambulance unit with overhead panel, a stretcher, and an adapter.
The report goes on to identify shortcomings with ANB's aviation industry knowledge.
"ANB was unfamiliar with what was meant by standard industry terms … If organizations contract aviation companies to provide a service with which the organizations are not familiar, then there is an increased risk that safety deficiencies will go unnoticed," the TSB report said.
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