While it now appears that Toronto police had no special powers to interrogate, arrest and detain people within a five-metre perimeter outside the recent G20 summit in the megacity’s downtown core, the very law that featured that temporary regulation is itself unconstitutional, argues constitutional law scholar Errol Mendes.
He explains that in Committee for the Commonwealth of Canada v. Canada, [1991] 1 S.C.R. 139, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) held that federal regulations and airport officials that prohibited the distribution of political pamphlets at Montreal’s Dorval airport (now known as Montréal-Trudeau) infringed on the freedom of expression of the two respondents (François Lépine and Christiane Deland).
The court was unanimous in its decision that s. 2 (b) of the Charter conferred a right to use public property for purposes of free expression, and the federal government did not possess the absolute power of a private owner to control access to and use of public property — in this case an airport, says Mendes, a professor of law at the University of Ottawa’s common law section and the editor-in-chief of The National Journal of Constitutional Law. A year later, in R.W.D.S.U., Local 558 v. Pepsi-Cola Canada Beverages (West) Ltd., [2002] 1 S.C.R. 156, the court again cited s. 2 (b) in upholding the right the union had to picket at secondary locations, such as retail outlets that carried the appellant’s products.
By extension, the right to picket equally applies to political demonstrations, and therefore Ontario’s Public Works Protection Act (PWPA), which gives guards or police officers the power to ask anyone approaching a public work to identify him or herself, and its controversial Ontario Regulation 233/10, are unconstitutional, says Mendes.
He explains that the regulation’s provision of designating an area “within five metres of a line drawn” in an area surrounding the Toronto G20 summit is particularly troubling, since it has since been revealed that the zone was within the secured site and not, as previously thought, outside of it. “If the police knew that in advance and went ahead and arrested people, they violated a whole bunch of Charter rights.”
In its “A Breach of the Peace” preliminary report following the G20 summit, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA), which had five of its 50 monitors arrested and detained during the two-day event, believes that police conduct “was, at times, disproportionate, arbitrary and excessive,” and that policing and security efforts “failed to demonstrate commitment to Canada’s constitutional values.”
Even before the summit, the CCLA warned that cordoning off large areas of downtown Toronto could violate several sections of the Charter: s. 7, which guarantees individual liberty, including freedom of movement; and s. 2 (b), (c) and (d) that guarantee freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly and association.
During the summit, the invocation of the 71-year-old PWPA to give police the power to “search, without warrant, any person entering or attempting to enter” the security perimeter could constitute a breach of the s. 8 search-and-seizure protection in the Charter, according to Nathalie Des Rosiers, general counsel of the CCLA. She says the mass arrest of 1,105 people — the largest in Canadian history, which resulted in 263 charges being laid, many of them involving conspiracy to commit a criminal act — not only displayed the “overreach” of police, but violated s. 9 of the Charter (the right not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned).
“We’re worried that the way in which the breach-of-the-peace provisions of the Criminal Code were used by police may be unconstitutional,” says Des Rosiers, who is on leave as a professor in the University of Ottawa’s civil law section. “They’re not supposed to be used by police just to arrest people because they’re fed up with them protesting. Police have a duty to protect the right of peaceful assembly.”
The CCLA has called on federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson to strike a committee to modernize the “old-fashioned and antiquated” Criminal Code provisions dealing with unlawful assemblies and riots. The association also wants an independent public inquiry into the actions of the police during the G20 summit, and has called on the Ontario government to either amend or repeal the PWPA that gave police broad powers that are “inconsistent with current Charter requirements.”
In force for a week leading up to and including the G20 meeting, Ontario Regulation 233/10 was only printed in The Ontario Gazette after the summit, on July 3, and has been dubbed the “secret” law that was only known to police and government officials.
Dave Vasey, a 31-year-old York University student believed to be the only person charged with breaching the five-metre regulation under the PWPA, showed up at Toronto’s Old City Hall in late July only to discover his name was not on the docket and the court did not have information on his case. Vasey, who says he was just standing with a friend outside the security perimeter two days before the G20 summit, was surrounded at one point by as many as 10 Toronto police officers. When asked for identification, he declined to show any and was promptly arrested and searched.
But the PWPA only allows police to conduct a search if a person is entering or attempting to enter a public work, which didn’t apply to Vasey, says Howard Morton, a Toronto criminal defence lawyer who, as a member of the Law Union of Ontario, agreed to act pro bono on G20-related cases, including Vasey’s.
Morton is part of a chorus, which includes the CCLA, critical of the Ontario government for secretly introducing the PWPA regulation and not widely informing the public about it in advance of the G20 meeting.
“If you want people to obey a law, the first thing you do is tell them it exists and explain to them what they’re required to do or what they’re not allowed to do. Whenever additional powers are conferred on the police, issues involving the Charter of Rights are automatically raised,” says Morton.
Vasey plans to commence civil proceedings against the Ontario government and Toronto police. As well, two class actions have been launched by G20 summit protesters, including a suit against the Toronto Police Services Board and the Attorney General of Canada.
Those cases could benefit from the recent SCC decision in Vancouver (City) v. Ward, [2010] S.C.J. No. 27, according to Mendes. “Until that decision, the lower courts gave the impression that as long as there was no malice on the part of the police when they were performing their duties — even if they ended up potentially violating Charter rights — there was no right to damages. What the Ward decision seems to imply is that even without malice, an individual is entitled to compensation.”
In a unanimous ruling, the SCC upheld a trial decision that awarded Vancouver lawyer Cameron Ward $5,000 for a strip search that violated his s. 8 Charter right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.
Ward, who had previously represented clients in civil rights cases against Vancouver police, including student complainants following the infamous pepper-spraying incident during the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders in Vancouver in November 1997, was partially strip searched and spent four-and-a-half hours in “squalid conditions” in a provincial jail on Aug. 1, 2002 after police acted on a tip and mistakenly accused him of planning to throw a pie at an event then-prime minister Jean Chrétien was attending in the city.
When he was finally released after the public ceremony, police refused to apologize and Ward went to B.C.’s Supreme Court to seek compensation from the City of Vancouver, which employs the police, and the province, which operated the jail at the time he was detained.
Now, he has the precedent-setting SCC decision to refer to when representing clients who find themselves wrongly arrested and detained. “For the first time in 28 years since the Charter was enacted, the Supreme Court of Canada was asked whether damages are an appropriate remedy for a violation of a Charter right, and the justices said quite clearly and unequivocally, yes they are,” says Ward, who has appeared before both the Commission for Complaints Against the RCMP and B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner.
“In my view, fundamental civil rights and liberties cannot be suspended simply because some important people are coming to town. It’s very important that the police and other security agents fully respect citizens’ constitutional rights and that there ought to be consequences if they willfully violate those rights.”
With allegations that women detainees during the G20 summit were strip searched and sexually assaulted by male police officers — as outlined in a July 26 letter to federal Public Safety Minister Vic Toews from Claire Tremblay, national coordinator for the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights — Mendes would like the SCC to render an opinion not only on the conduct of police during the G20 summit, but on the PWPA they, in hindsight, wrongly relied on to wield their authority.
“Political expression is the core of our democracy, and this was one of the most serious attempts to undermine that most important aspect of freedom of expression,” he explains.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
CCLA Round-up: 2 Months After the G20 - Accountability Inside the Courts
Anthony Navaneelan gives an overview of the ongoing criminal and civil court cases related to the G20.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Swedish hearts have the edge.
The findings were published in the Tuesday issue of Circulation: Heart Failure, an American Heart Association journal.
The nine-year study, conducted among 31,823 middle-aged and elderly Swedish women, looked at the relationship between the amount of high-quality chocolate the women ate and compared their risk for heart failure.
The quality of chocolate consumed by the women has a higher density of cocoa content comparable to dark chocolate by American standards, it was observed.
Researchers found that women who ate an average of one to two servings of the high-quality chocolate per week had a 32 percent lower risk of developing heart failure.
Those who had one to three servings per month had a 26 percent lower risk, while those who consumed at least one serving daily or more did not appear to benefit from a protective effect against heart failure.
The lack of a protective effect among women eating chocolate every day is probably due to the additional calories gained from eating chocolate instead of more nutritious foods, said Dr. Murray Mittleman, lead researcher of the study.
"Chocolate is a relatively calorie-dense food and large amounts of habitual consumption is going to raise your risks for weight gain," said Dr. Mittleman, director of the cardiovascular epidemiology research unit at Harvard Medical School's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
"But if you're going to have a treat, dark chocolate is probably a good choice, as long as it's in moderation," he added.
High concentration of compounds called "flavonoids" in chocolate may lower blood pressure, among other benefits, according to mostly short-term studies. This is the first study to show long-term outcomes related specifically to heart failure.
Although 90 percent of all chocolate eaten across Sweden during the study period was milk chocolate, it contains about 30 percent cocoa solids. US standards only require 15 percent cocoa solids to qualify as dark chocolate.
The average serving size for Swedish women in the study ranged from 19 grammes among those 62 and older, to 30 grammes among those 61 and younger. The standard American portion size is 20 grammes.
The nine-year study, conducted among 31,823 middle-aged and elderly Swedish women, looked at the relationship between the amount of high-quality chocolate the women ate and compared their risk for heart failure.
The quality of chocolate consumed by the women has a higher density of cocoa content comparable to dark chocolate by American standards, it was observed.
Researchers found that women who ate an average of one to two servings of the high-quality chocolate per week had a 32 percent lower risk of developing heart failure.
Those who had one to three servings per month had a 26 percent lower risk, while those who consumed at least one serving daily or more did not appear to benefit from a protective effect against heart failure.
The lack of a protective effect among women eating chocolate every day is probably due to the additional calories gained from eating chocolate instead of more nutritious foods, said Dr. Murray Mittleman, lead researcher of the study.
"Chocolate is a relatively calorie-dense food and large amounts of habitual consumption is going to raise your risks for weight gain," said Dr. Mittleman, director of the cardiovascular epidemiology research unit at Harvard Medical School's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
"But if you're going to have a treat, dark chocolate is probably a good choice, as long as it's in moderation," he added.
High concentration of compounds called "flavonoids" in chocolate may lower blood pressure, among other benefits, according to mostly short-term studies. This is the first study to show long-term outcomes related specifically to heart failure.
Although 90 percent of all chocolate eaten across Sweden during the study period was milk chocolate, it contains about 30 percent cocoa solids. US standards only require 15 percent cocoa solids to qualify as dark chocolate.
The average serving size for Swedish women in the study ranged from 19 grammes among those 62 and older, to 30 grammes among those 61 and younger. The standard American portion size is 20 grammes.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Transport Canada is issuing an Air-worthiness Directive on Bombardier-built Q400 turboprops relating to the potential for cracks or corrosion near the landing gear.
By Caroline Van Hasselt and Kaveri Niththyananthan Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES TORONTO (Dow Jones)--Canada's civil-aviation safety regulators told Dow Jones Monday that it is in the process of issuing an air-worthiness bulletin on Bombardier-built Q400 turboprops relating to the potential for cracks or corrosion near the landing gear.
"Transport Canada is aware of concerns relating to the turboprop aircraft landing gear, and the department is in the process of issuing an Air-worthiness Directive on this subject," says Transport Canada spokeswoman Maryse Durette. Such a directive would require all operators to correct the specific problem.
Australia's Qantas Airlines Ltd. (QAN.AU) on the weekend temporarily grounded five of its 21 Q400 turboprops after conducting inspections related to recent Bombardier service bulletins that were issued after U.K. carrier Flybe Ltd. (FBE.YY) raised concerns about the undercarriage fittings on its Q400 fleet. This latest issue is not related to the landing-gear problems that grounded Scandinavia-based SAS Group's Q400 fleet in 2007, says a Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.T) spokesman.
Montreal-based Bombardier is "communicating with all owners of Q400 to provide them with the next steps, and Transport Canada is monitoring" the company's "proactive response," Transport Canada said. Bombardier issued the service bulletins in July and April related to the fittings in the turboprop's nacelle area near the landing gear. The nacelle area is a streamlined enclosure that's not part of the fuselage.
Of the 300 Q400 fleet worldwide, 222 planes need to be inspected, says John Arnone, a Bombardier spokesman. The inspections are meant to catch any corrosion, fatigue or stress before it becomes an issue. To date, 60% of the 222 planes have been inspected, and 4% of the inspected planes were found to have potential problems and have been either fixed or awaiting parts, he says.
This latest issue with the Q400, a popular quiet short-haul turboprop, comes just months after Canadian and U.S. regulators ordered the company to fix certain angle-of-attack, or AOA, components on the Q400 that warn of aerodynamic stalls. Bombardier first alerted Transport Canada to potential AOA problems last fall after one of its suppliers informed it of a stalling incident due to icing on a non-Bombardier aircraft. French parts-maker Thales SA (HO.FR) is Bombardier's supplier.
Sydney-based Qantas said in a statement, dated Aug. 21, that it grounded the five short-haul planes after "inspection of a main landing-gear component." The airline began inspecting its fleet after discussions with Bombardier and after Flybe, a major operator of the aircraft, detected a cracked fitting during a regular maintenance check.
A spokesman for the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority confirmed it was aware of the issue. "Flybe were performing normal maintenance checks and informed the manufacturer," the spokesman said, adding that the regulator isn't aware of any further issues.
A Flybe spokesperson told Dow Jones that "procedures, such as the checks carried out on the Q400 fleet, are standard practice throughout the industry," adding that its Q400 fleet is operating its normal schedule, with no delays or cancellations.
U.K. airlines must notify the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority of safety critical issues within 96 hours of an incident. Foreign airlines are regulated by their home authorities.
Qantas said it expects the component fix to take around seven days for each aircraft. As a result, QantasLink cancelled some of its Sydney-Canberra Q400 services, is operating supplementary jet flights and using larger aircraft where possible.
"The issue is not an immediate flight safety concern, but does need to be rectified before each aircraft can return to service," said Alan Joyce, Qantas' chief executive.
In 2007, SAS pulled all 27 of its Q400 fleet out of service after landing-gear-related problems led to three crash landings within seven weeks. Charlotte, N.C.-based Goodrich Corp. (GR) supplied the landing gear. A year later, Bombardier agreed to pay SAS Scandinavian compensation of around $164 million in cash and credit for future aircraft purchases. As part of the agreement, SAS agreed to order 27 aircraft, with an option for 24 more.
In Toronto Monday, Bombardier B shares are down 9 Canadian cents, or 2%, to C$4.47 on about 1.9 million shares. In Sydney, Qantas closed slightly lower at A$2.59 on 23.4 million shares.
"Transport Canada is aware of concerns relating to the turboprop aircraft landing gear, and the department is in the process of issuing an Air-worthiness Directive on this subject," says Transport Canada spokeswoman Maryse Durette. Such a directive would require all operators to correct the specific problem.
Australia's Qantas Airlines Ltd. (QAN.AU) on the weekend temporarily grounded five of its 21 Q400 turboprops after conducting inspections related to recent Bombardier service bulletins that were issued after U.K. carrier Flybe Ltd. (FBE.YY) raised concerns about the undercarriage fittings on its Q400 fleet. This latest issue is not related to the landing-gear problems that grounded Scandinavia-based SAS Group's Q400 fleet in 2007, says a Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.T) spokesman.
Montreal-based Bombardier is "communicating with all owners of Q400 to provide them with the next steps, and Transport Canada is monitoring" the company's "proactive response," Transport Canada said. Bombardier issued the service bulletins in July and April related to the fittings in the turboprop's nacelle area near the landing gear. The nacelle area is a streamlined enclosure that's not part of the fuselage.
Of the 300 Q400 fleet worldwide, 222 planes need to be inspected, says John Arnone, a Bombardier spokesman. The inspections are meant to catch any corrosion, fatigue or stress before it becomes an issue. To date, 60% of the 222 planes have been inspected, and 4% of the inspected planes were found to have potential problems and have been either fixed or awaiting parts, he says.
This latest issue with the Q400, a popular quiet short-haul turboprop, comes just months after Canadian and U.S. regulators ordered the company to fix certain angle-of-attack, or AOA, components on the Q400 that warn of aerodynamic stalls. Bombardier first alerted Transport Canada to potential AOA problems last fall after one of its suppliers informed it of a stalling incident due to icing on a non-Bombardier aircraft. French parts-maker Thales SA (HO.FR) is Bombardier's supplier.
Sydney-based Qantas said in a statement, dated Aug. 21, that it grounded the five short-haul planes after "inspection of a main landing-gear component." The airline began inspecting its fleet after discussions with Bombardier and after Flybe, a major operator of the aircraft, detected a cracked fitting during a regular maintenance check.
A spokesman for the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority confirmed it was aware of the issue. "Flybe were performing normal maintenance checks and informed the manufacturer," the spokesman said, adding that the regulator isn't aware of any further issues.
A Flybe spokesperson told Dow Jones that "procedures, such as the checks carried out on the Q400 fleet, are standard practice throughout the industry," adding that its Q400 fleet is operating its normal schedule, with no delays or cancellations.
U.K. airlines must notify the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority of safety critical issues within 96 hours of an incident. Foreign airlines are regulated by their home authorities.
Qantas said it expects the component fix to take around seven days for each aircraft. As a result, QantasLink cancelled some of its Sydney-Canberra Q400 services, is operating supplementary jet flights and using larger aircraft where possible.
"The issue is not an immediate flight safety concern, but does need to be rectified before each aircraft can return to service," said Alan Joyce, Qantas' chief executive.
In 2007, SAS pulled all 27 of its Q400 fleet out of service after landing-gear-related problems led to three crash landings within seven weeks. Charlotte, N.C.-based Goodrich Corp. (GR) supplied the landing gear. A year later, Bombardier agreed to pay SAS Scandinavian compensation of around $164 million in cash and credit for future aircraft purchases. As part of the agreement, SAS agreed to order 27 aircraft, with an option for 24 more.
In Toronto Monday, Bombardier B shares are down 9 Canadian cents, or 2%, to C$4.47 on about 1.9 million shares. In Sydney, Qantas closed slightly lower at A$2.59 on 23.4 million shares.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Incidents and accidents/ Major landing gear incidents.
Incidents and accidents
Notable accidents
November 21, 1990: a Bangkok Airways de Havilland Canada DHC-8-103 crashed on Koh Samui while attempting to land in heavy rain and high winds. All 38 people on board died.[21]
January 6, 1993: Lufthansa Cityline Flight 5634 crashed short of the runway near Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, France. The crash killed four out of 23 passengers and crew.[citation needed]
June 9, 1995: Ansett New Zealand Flight 703 Dash 8-102 from Auckland Airport to Palmerston North crashed on western slopes of the Tararua Ranges and 16 km east of Palmerston North Airport during an instrument approach in inclement weather, four killed.
February 12, 2009: Colgan Air Flight 3407 a Q400, from Newark Liberty International Airport to Buffalo Niagara International Airport stalled and crashed into a house in Clarence Center, New York, while preparing to land at the airport. All 49 people on board, including four crew and one off duty pilot, and one person on the ground were killed. Two other people on the ground received minor injuries. The National Transportation Safety Board determined that pilot error cause factors, including a "startle and confusion" response by the captain, were the primary contributors to the accident.[22][23][24][25]
November 23, 2009: a de Havilland Canada DHC-8-200, being operated on behalf of United States Africa Command, made an emergency landing at Tarakigné, Mali and was substantially damaged when the undercarriage collapsed and the starboard wing was ripped off.[26]
Major landing gear incidents
A Dash 8 after landing at Kōchi Ryōma Airport on March 13, 2007, when the front landing gear failed to extendMain article: Dash 8 landing gear incidents
In September 2007, two separate incidents of similar landing gear failures occurred within four days of each other on SAS Dash 8-Q400 aircraft. A third incident occurred in October 2007, leading to the withdrawal of the type from the airline's fleet.
September 9, 2007: The crew of Scandinavian Airlines Flight 1209, en route from Copenhagen to Aalborg, reported problems with the locking mechanism of the right side landing gear, and Aalborg Airport was prepared for an emergency landing. Shortly after touchdown the right main gear collapsed and the airliner skidded off the runway while fragments of the right propeller shot against the cabin and the right engine caught fire. Of 69 passengers and four crew on board, 11 were sent to hospital, five with only minor injuries.[27][28][29] The accident was filmed by a local news channel (TV2-Nord) and broadcast live on national television. The video footage can be seen on YouTube.[30]
September 12, 2007: Scandinavian Airlines Flight 2748 from Copenhagen to Palanga had a similar problem with the landing gear, forcing the aircraft to land in Vilnius. No passengers or crew were injured.[31] Immediately after this incident SAS grounded all their 33 Dash-8/Q400 airliners and, a few hours later, Bombardier recommended that all Dash-8/Q400s with more than 10,000 flights be grounded until further notice.[32]
October 27, 2007: Scandinavian Airlines Flight 2867 en route from Bergen to Copenhagen had severe problems with the landing gear during landing in Kastrup Airport. Right wing gear did not deploy properly (or partially), and the aircraft skidded off the runway in a controlled emergency landing. The Q400 was carrying 38 passengers, two infants and four crew members onboard. No injuries were reported. The incident is being investigated by the civil aviation administration in Scandinavia and all Dash 8-400 aircraft within the SAS Group are grounded.[33][34] The preliminary Danish investigation determined this latest Q400 incident is unrelated to the airline's earlier corrosion problems, in this particular case caused by a misplaced O-ring found blocking the orifice in the restrictor valve.[35] On the next day, SAS permanently removed its entire Dash 8 Q400 fleet from service.[36]
On September 12, 2007, Bombardier recommended all Q400s with over 10,000 landings to be grounded for inspection of their landing gear after two non-fatal accidents within three days involving the landing gear of a Q400 series aircraft. Both incident aircraft were operated by Scandinavian Airlines, an early operator of the type.[37] This affected about 60 aircraft, out of 140 Q400s in service. In all, eight Q400s had landing gear failures while landing during 2007: four in Denmark, one in Germany, one in Japan, one in Lithuania and one in South Korea; see section Notable incidents and accidents. Following an incident at Copenhagen Airport, October 27, 2007, Scandinavian Airlines' executive board decided to permanently remove its entire Q-400 fleet from service. In a press release on October 28, 2007, the company's president said: "Confidence in the Q400 has diminished considerably and our customers are becoming increasingly doubtful about flying in this type of aircraft. Accordingly, with the Board of Directors' approval, I have decided to immediately remove Dash 8 Q400 aircraft from service."[33][36][38] On March 10, 2008, SAS ordered 27 more aircraft from Bombardier in a compensation deal, 14 Q400 NextGen and 13 CRJ900.[39]
In November 2007, it was revealed that Swedish Civil Aviation Authority began an investigation and accused Scandinavian Airlines System of cutting corners for maintenance. The airline reportedly made 2,300 flights in which safety equipment was not up to standard.[40]
Notable accidents
November 21, 1990: a Bangkok Airways de Havilland Canada DHC-8-103 crashed on Koh Samui while attempting to land in heavy rain and high winds. All 38 people on board died.[21]
January 6, 1993: Lufthansa Cityline Flight 5634 crashed short of the runway near Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, France. The crash killed four out of 23 passengers and crew.[citation needed]
June 9, 1995: Ansett New Zealand Flight 703 Dash 8-102 from Auckland Airport to Palmerston North crashed on western slopes of the Tararua Ranges and 16 km east of Palmerston North Airport during an instrument approach in inclement weather, four killed.
February 12, 2009: Colgan Air Flight 3407 a Q400, from Newark Liberty International Airport to Buffalo Niagara International Airport stalled and crashed into a house in Clarence Center, New York, while preparing to land at the airport. All 49 people on board, including four crew and one off duty pilot, and one person on the ground were killed. Two other people on the ground received minor injuries. The National Transportation Safety Board determined that pilot error cause factors, including a "startle and confusion" response by the captain, were the primary contributors to the accident.[22][23][24][25]
November 23, 2009: a de Havilland Canada DHC-8-200, being operated on behalf of United States Africa Command, made an emergency landing at Tarakigné, Mali and was substantially damaged when the undercarriage collapsed and the starboard wing was ripped off.[26]
Major landing gear incidents
A Dash 8 after landing at Kōchi Ryōma Airport on March 13, 2007, when the front landing gear failed to extendMain article: Dash 8 landing gear incidents
In September 2007, two separate incidents of similar landing gear failures occurred within four days of each other on SAS Dash 8-Q400 aircraft. A third incident occurred in October 2007, leading to the withdrawal of the type from the airline's fleet.
September 9, 2007: The crew of Scandinavian Airlines Flight 1209, en route from Copenhagen to Aalborg, reported problems with the locking mechanism of the right side landing gear, and Aalborg Airport was prepared for an emergency landing. Shortly after touchdown the right main gear collapsed and the airliner skidded off the runway while fragments of the right propeller shot against the cabin and the right engine caught fire. Of 69 passengers and four crew on board, 11 were sent to hospital, five with only minor injuries.[27][28][29] The accident was filmed by a local news channel (TV2-Nord) and broadcast live on national television. The video footage can be seen on YouTube.[30]
September 12, 2007: Scandinavian Airlines Flight 2748 from Copenhagen to Palanga had a similar problem with the landing gear, forcing the aircraft to land in Vilnius. No passengers or crew were injured.[31] Immediately after this incident SAS grounded all their 33 Dash-8/Q400 airliners and, a few hours later, Bombardier recommended that all Dash-8/Q400s with more than 10,000 flights be grounded until further notice.[32]
October 27, 2007: Scandinavian Airlines Flight 2867 en route from Bergen to Copenhagen had severe problems with the landing gear during landing in Kastrup Airport. Right wing gear did not deploy properly (or partially), and the aircraft skidded off the runway in a controlled emergency landing. The Q400 was carrying 38 passengers, two infants and four crew members onboard. No injuries were reported. The incident is being investigated by the civil aviation administration in Scandinavia and all Dash 8-400 aircraft within the SAS Group are grounded.[33][34] The preliminary Danish investigation determined this latest Q400 incident is unrelated to the airline's earlier corrosion problems, in this particular case caused by a misplaced O-ring found blocking the orifice in the restrictor valve.[35] On the next day, SAS permanently removed its entire Dash 8 Q400 fleet from service.[36]
On September 12, 2007, Bombardier recommended all Q400s with over 10,000 landings to be grounded for inspection of their landing gear after two non-fatal accidents within three days involving the landing gear of a Q400 series aircraft. Both incident aircraft were operated by Scandinavian Airlines, an early operator of the type.[37] This affected about 60 aircraft, out of 140 Q400s in service. In all, eight Q400s had landing gear failures while landing during 2007: four in Denmark, one in Germany, one in Japan, one in Lithuania and one in South Korea; see section Notable incidents and accidents. Following an incident at Copenhagen Airport, October 27, 2007, Scandinavian Airlines' executive board decided to permanently remove its entire Q-400 fleet from service. In a press release on October 28, 2007, the company's president said: "Confidence in the Q400 has diminished considerably and our customers are becoming increasingly doubtful about flying in this type of aircraft. Accordingly, with the Board of Directors' approval, I have decided to immediately remove Dash 8 Q400 aircraft from service."[33][36][38] On March 10, 2008, SAS ordered 27 more aircraft from Bombardier in a compensation deal, 14 Q400 NextGen and 13 CRJ900.[39]
In November 2007, it was revealed that Swedish Civil Aviation Authority began an investigation and accused Scandinavian Airlines System of cutting corners for maintenance. The airline reportedly made 2,300 flights in which safety equipment was not up to standard.[40]
case for G20 probe!.
case for G20 probe
Christopher Miller was charged with mischief for writing “Shame on you” in charcoal on a sidewalk at police headquarters.
National Post photographer Brett Grundlock was charged with obstructing police and unlawful assembly while doing his job.
And Robert Gamble was charged with disturbing the peace after he yelled “Arrest the war criminals. Investigate 9/11.”
The Crown dropped all these charges, and more, on Monday as hundreds of people paraded through Ontario Court in the aftermath of the Group of 20 summit protests that rocked downtown Toronto on June 26 and 27, during which some vandals torched police cars and smashed shop windows.
The sheer flimsiness of some of the charges ought to embarrass the Toronto police and other forces that arrested more than 1,000 people, penning them up in wire cages for much of the weekend.
Ultimately only some 300 were charged. And while the 17 alleged ringleaders and others still have a date with the courts, prosecutors were eager to drop or “divert” charges for nearly 100 people if they agreed to contribute to a charity, do community service or sign a peace bond.
This winnowing process reflects well on Ontario Court, and its reluctance to criminalize dissent. But it does nothing to ease concerns about Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s unwisdom in holding the G20 in downtown Toronto, turning it into an armed camp of empty streets. Or Premier Dalton McGuinty’s decision to grant the police enhanced powers of arrest without properly informing the public. Or the police strategy that first let vandals run amok, then cracked down on non-violent protesters.
These are far-ranging matters of political responsibility and civil rights that only a full inquiry can properly address, not the slew of low-level probes now underway by the Toronto police, the Police Services Board, the Ontario ombudsman’s office and Ontario’s new Independent Civilian Review and Public Complaints Process. Each is looking at a piece of the problem.
What’s needed is a broad public inquiry by Ottawa or Queen’s Park into this wretched chain of events, from the Prime Minister’s fateful decision to turn Toronto into an armed camp, to police tactics that ranged from laissez-faire to abrupt mass arrests. We deserve a full accounting
Christopher Miller was charged with mischief for writing “Shame on you” in charcoal on a sidewalk at police headquarters.
National Post photographer Brett Grundlock was charged with obstructing police and unlawful assembly while doing his job.
And Robert Gamble was charged with disturbing the peace after he yelled “Arrest the war criminals. Investigate 9/11.”
The Crown dropped all these charges, and more, on Monday as hundreds of people paraded through Ontario Court in the aftermath of the Group of 20 summit protests that rocked downtown Toronto on June 26 and 27, during which some vandals torched police cars and smashed shop windows.
The sheer flimsiness of some of the charges ought to embarrass the Toronto police and other forces that arrested more than 1,000 people, penning them up in wire cages for much of the weekend.
Ultimately only some 300 were charged. And while the 17 alleged ringleaders and others still have a date with the courts, prosecutors were eager to drop or “divert” charges for nearly 100 people if they agreed to contribute to a charity, do community service or sign a peace bond.
This winnowing process reflects well on Ontario Court, and its reluctance to criminalize dissent. But it does nothing to ease concerns about Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s unwisdom in holding the G20 in downtown Toronto, turning it into an armed camp of empty streets. Or Premier Dalton McGuinty’s decision to grant the police enhanced powers of arrest without properly informing the public. Or the police strategy that first let vandals run amok, then cracked down on non-violent protesters.
These are far-ranging matters of political responsibility and civil rights that only a full inquiry can properly address, not the slew of low-level probes now underway by the Toronto police, the Police Services Board, the Ontario ombudsman’s office and Ontario’s new Independent Civilian Review and Public Complaints Process. Each is looking at a piece of the problem.
What’s needed is a broad public inquiry by Ottawa or Queen’s Park into this wretched chain of events, from the Prime Minister’s fateful decision to turn Toronto into an armed camp, to police tactics that ranged from laissez-faire to abrupt mass arrests. We deserve a full accounting
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Dimitri Soudas You are an ASS!!!.
Russian bomber gaffe reminiscent of Cold War
“It’s the best plane … and when you are a pilot staring down on Russian long-range bombers, that’s an important fact to remember.”
You could be forgiven for thinking this is a quote by Tom Cruise’s Maverick character from the Cold War-era favourite Top Gun. But no, the comment was made by the Prime Minister’s director of communications after two CF-18 Hornets shadowed two Russian TU-95 Bears in the Far North on Tuesday.
Apparently miffed that the Russians had dared buzz Canadian airspace while his boss is in the Arctic, Dimitri Soudas was extolling the virtues of Canada’s fighter jets.
The fact is, the Russians regularly sniff around in the North and the only reason we know about it this time, one suspects, is because the parliamentary National Defence committee was set to meet to debate the $16-billion untendered purchase of the next generation of fighter jets, the F-35s, from Lockheed Martin.
The Russian presence was a timely opportunity for the Prime Minister’s Office to once again subvert diplomacy to the interests of domestic politics. “The CF-18 is an incredible aircraft that enables our Forces to meet the Russian challenges in our North,” said Mr. Soudas, an attempt to blunt criticism that its replacement is not suited to the kind of security tasks Canada is likely to undertake in the future.
In the short-term, raising the spectre of the Russian bear in the air must have seemed like a good idea, since it knocked the committee meeting off the news agenda.
But here’s why it was not. The Canadian government’s own strategy document says our only territorial disputes in the Far North are with Denmark over Hans Island and the United States over the maritime boundary in the Beaufort Sea.
A dispute with Russia may yet emerge if there are over-lapping claims along the Lomonosov Ridge, a mountain range beneath the Arctic Ocean, where a mini-submarine planted a Russian flag in 2007.
But co-operating with Russia may yield more benefits than confrontation. Where Canada claims the North-West Passage as an internal waterway, so Russia claims the North-East Passage — both of which are set to become navigable.
As Norway’s Foreign Minister, Jonas Gahr Store, told me when he visited Ottawa in March, the West would benefit from “updating our mental maps, which are frozen in the Cold War” when dealing with Russia.
This is understood only too well by Canada’s bureaucrats in the Department of Foreign Affairs, many of whom have been left holding their heads in their hands in despair after the latest intervention by the PMO.
Sources inside the department said there is increasing frustration at a hostility toward Russia that is manufactured for entirely domestic political purposes. The relationship between this government and its bureaucracy is showing signs of fraying to breaking point. Conservative politicians might joke that a public service strike would bring government to a standstill, if it were not for the fact that it is already. They might not be laughing so hard if they tested the theory. “More and more, the system is starting to resist,” said one senior Conservative, who lamented the aggressive approach taken by the PMO.
No one is suggesting that Canadian sovereignty in the North is not important — nor that the Canadian Forces should not respond to potential incursions (even if, as NDP critic Jack Harris pointed out, the Russians have not entered Canadian airspace in the last decade).
But it is fair to suggest that there should be a more mature, sophisticated approach taken by the Prime Minister’s Office. To speak in the style of a wannabe Top Gun is not grown-up government.
.
Read more: http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/08/25/john-ivison-russian-bomber-gaffe-reminiscent-of-cold-war/#ixzz0xgDAfAvo
“It’s the best plane … and when you are a pilot staring down on Russian long-range bombers, that’s an important fact to remember.”
You could be forgiven for thinking this is a quote by Tom Cruise’s Maverick character from the Cold War-era favourite Top Gun. But no, the comment was made by the Prime Minister’s director of communications after two CF-18 Hornets shadowed two Russian TU-95 Bears in the Far North on Tuesday.
Apparently miffed that the Russians had dared buzz Canadian airspace while his boss is in the Arctic, Dimitri Soudas was extolling the virtues of Canada’s fighter jets.
The fact is, the Russians regularly sniff around in the North and the only reason we know about it this time, one suspects, is because the parliamentary National Defence committee was set to meet to debate the $16-billion untendered purchase of the next generation of fighter jets, the F-35s, from Lockheed Martin.
The Russian presence was a timely opportunity for the Prime Minister’s Office to once again subvert diplomacy to the interests of domestic politics. “The CF-18 is an incredible aircraft that enables our Forces to meet the Russian challenges in our North,” said Mr. Soudas, an attempt to blunt criticism that its replacement is not suited to the kind of security tasks Canada is likely to undertake in the future.
In the short-term, raising the spectre of the Russian bear in the air must have seemed like a good idea, since it knocked the committee meeting off the news agenda.
But here’s why it was not. The Canadian government’s own strategy document says our only territorial disputes in the Far North are with Denmark over Hans Island and the United States over the maritime boundary in the Beaufort Sea.
A dispute with Russia may yet emerge if there are over-lapping claims along the Lomonosov Ridge, a mountain range beneath the Arctic Ocean, where a mini-submarine planted a Russian flag in 2007.
But co-operating with Russia may yield more benefits than confrontation. Where Canada claims the North-West Passage as an internal waterway, so Russia claims the North-East Passage — both of which are set to become navigable.
As Norway’s Foreign Minister, Jonas Gahr Store, told me when he visited Ottawa in March, the West would benefit from “updating our mental maps, which are frozen in the Cold War” when dealing with Russia.
This is understood only too well by Canada’s bureaucrats in the Department of Foreign Affairs, many of whom have been left holding their heads in their hands in despair after the latest intervention by the PMO.
Sources inside the department said there is increasing frustration at a hostility toward Russia that is manufactured for entirely domestic political purposes. The relationship between this government and its bureaucracy is showing signs of fraying to breaking point. Conservative politicians might joke that a public service strike would bring government to a standstill, if it were not for the fact that it is already. They might not be laughing so hard if they tested the theory. “More and more, the system is starting to resist,” said one senior Conservative, who lamented the aggressive approach taken by the PMO.
No one is suggesting that Canadian sovereignty in the North is not important — nor that the Canadian Forces should not respond to potential incursions (even if, as NDP critic Jack Harris pointed out, the Russians have not entered Canadian airspace in the last decade).
But it is fair to suggest that there should be a more mature, sophisticated approach taken by the Prime Minister’s Office. To speak in the style of a wannabe Top Gun is not grown-up government.
.
Read more: http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/08/25/john-ivison-russian-bomber-gaffe-reminiscent-of-cold-war/#ixzz0xgDAfAvo
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