The Transportation Safety Board on Thursday of this week held a news conference to announce the release of a new, and lengthy, report titled ‘Raising the bar on safety: Reducing the risks associated with air-taxi operations in Canada.’

The TSB stated that this sector of the Canadian aviation industry has more accidents and causes more fatalities than all other sectors of commercial aviation combined.

In Canada, air-taxi operations include those commercial operations using aircraft (other than jets but including helicopters) that are licensed to carry fewer than 10 passengers. Such operations can be found throughout Canada, including in remote areas.

“We found that accidents in this sector of aviation boil down to two underlying factors: the acceptance of unsafe practices and the inadequate management of operational hazards,” said TSB chairwoman Kathy Fox. “And although overall, commercial aviation in Canada has shown improved safety performance over the past 10 years, air-taxi operations remain at higher risk.”

Glen Whitney, the report’s investigator in charge, added, “…these accidents really boil down to a pair of key underlying factors [including] a slow incremental drift toward accepting unsafe practices…”

The report reiterates past recommendations for improving the safety record of this sector and adds four new ones.

View the full TSB report by clicking here, from where it can also be downloaded in PDF format.