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This past summer saw an attempt to complete an around the
world flight by a Slovenian pilot, Matevz Lenarcic, in a Canadian designed
ultralight airplane, a Zenair CH 701 STOL. His goal was to fly from Slovenia,
through Siberia, across Canada, Greenland, Iceland and Europe, back to Slovenia,
a feat that had never been done in an ultralight airplane solo and unsupported.
He managed to attract a good deal of international press interest and corporate
sponsorship for the flight.
His flight had to contend with multiple border crossings, Russian bureaucracy,
many weather challenges and the great distances involved. In the end the flight
was halted, not by any of those factors, but by Canadian Aviation Regulation
602.39 and a new legal opinion on it, as sought by Transport Canada just before
Lenarcic departed on his flight.
CAR 602.39 requires that anyone flying a single engine aircraft from Canada
transoceanic must have an instrument rating, and the aircraft must be IFR
equipped, although not necessarily “IFR Certified.” The aircraft must also have
an HF radio, hypothermia protection and extra fuel reserves for the flight.
Lenarcic had actually approached Transport Canada two years before his flight to
ask if CAR 602.39 would apply to his flight. He received written assurance that
it would not apply. At that time Transport Canada did not consider flights via
Greenland to be “Transoceanic.” The legal opinion that Transport Canada received
from the Department of Justice indicated that they believed that flights via
Greenland did constitute “Transoceanic” flights.
It was only some five weeks before his departure, after more than two years of
planning, that Transport Canada let Lenarcic know of the new legal opinion about
the applicability of the CAR. At that point Lenarcic felt that it was too late
in the planning process to either comply with the CAR or cancel the flight.
Lenarcic was lacking the instrument rating and some of the required equipment.
Ultralight pilots do not generally have instrument ratings and Lenarcic’s CH 701
was not completely IFR equipped, although it had most of the instrumentation
required.
Lenarcic flew to Canada hoping to find solution to the problem while here, but
Transport Canada would not let Lenarcic depart Canada for Greenland without
complying with all the requirements of CAR 602.39.
This refusal by Transport Canada resulted in much diplomatic action that saw
Transport Canada officials called to the Slovenian embassy in Ottawa and appeals
for a resolution from the Slovenian Minister of Transport to the Canadian
Minister of Transport.
It also resulted in a huge flurry of domestic and worldwide press coverage, not
about the flight itself, but of the intransigence of the Canadian government to
allow this world record flight to continue. COPA was asked late in the
proceedings to intervene in the matter, but was not able to facilitate a
resolution.
As a result of this flight and its end, Canada now has a reputation amongst the
international aviation community for bureaucracy that is unparalleled anywhere
in the world.
Lenarcic spent many weeks in Canada trying to resolve the issue and ended up
going home on an airline flight while his CH 701 remains parked in Canada.
The complete details of the flight and its end can be found at
www.worldtranssiberia.com.
During the many discussions with Transport Canada officials it was apparent that
the only way to facilitate these sorts of flights in the future is through an
amendment to the CARs.
In examining this issue COPA can understand that the Canadian government does
have some responsibilities in this area. In general, the CARs exist for reasons
of the “safety of the public” and also for “the public interest.” In examining
CAR 602.39 it is not obvious where it protects either of those issues in the
case of these types of solo flights. There are no passengers to protect and
little risk to persons on the ground (or high seas).
The only “public interest” argument that has been made to date by Transport
Canada is that these flights may put Canadian SAR resources at risk, should a
rescue be needed.
This argument does not succeed when one considers that there are no such similar
prohibitions on transoceanic sailing or boating and that Canadian SAR resources
are launched on a regular basis to rescue boaters in the North Atlantic. If
boats were similarly restricted then this CAR might be seen as at least
consistent.
As it is currently written, this CAR imposes very high standards on world record
flights and other long distance non-commercial flights.
The sole argument for the existence of this CAR seems to be to protect
unsuspecting passengers from these risks.
COPA does understand this concern and supports the need to reduce exposure for
non-crew members on these types of flights but the onerous restrictions on
personal freedoms posed by this CAR are not justified.
Based on these concerns, COPA has made the request to Transport Canada that CAR
602.39 be amended to affect only those flights that carry passengers and that
flights with only essential crew on board be permitted to depart Canada without
complying with the onerous requirements of CAR 602.39. Contact Adam Hunt at
613-236-4901 ext. 104.