Think you're safe flying?  Think again.  A documentary by Hanna Gartner on the CBC program, The Fifth Estate, broadcast on September 25, 2009, has a number of very disturbing claims about airline safety in this country.  You can find and view the television program at this address:

http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/2009-2010/riding_on_risk/video.html

These are some claims made in the program.

• Canada is the only country whose government allows the aircraft industry to police itself.
• Airline safety is a "disaster waiting to happen."
• "A reckless disregard of public safety"
• Transport Canada does not enforce its own rules
• "The safety of the public is placed in grave and reckless danger."
• "Coverup"

These claims are made by people who have an intimate knowledge of the industry, some of them are pilots and others former Transport Canada safety officers.

Added to this, people interviewed for the program describe a culture of intimidation in the Ministry of Transport where whistle blowers can lose their jobs for doing no more than telling the truth.  It is truly a nightmare where employees are dismissed for doing what they have been hired to do -- protect the public.

The program ends with an interview of John Baird, the Minister of Transport, who does his best to assure Canadians that all is well in the ministry, the airline industry and aboard Canadian aircraft, but his words are not reassuring.

Watch the program and judge for yourself.

Bill Freeman