No. P01/05
For release January 7, 2005

TRANSPORT CANADA APPEALS 
TRANSPORTATION APPEAL TRIBUNAL DECISION

VANCOUVER, B.C. — Transport Canada has filed a notice of appeal with the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada in the matter of Gregory Sean Messner and the Minister of Transport.

On October 8, 2003, Transport Canada issued Mr. Messner a notice of suspension of his pilot’s license effective November 10, 2003 until August 17, 2008. The notice of suspension was issued after an extensive Transport Canada investigation. He was charged with allegedly falsely endorsing sea plane landing training in pilots’ log books, allegedly providing flight training in aircraft that were not properly equipped for dual controls and allegedly not entering flying time in the an aircraft’s journey logbook. Those three offenses, totaled over 100 violations of Canadian Aviation Regulations.

Mr. Messner appealed his suspension to the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada and on October 22, 2003 the Tribunal granted a stay of the suspension until his case could be reviewed.

A Tribunal Review Hearing was held in Vancouver, on March 10, 11 and 12 and July 28 and 29, 2004. In December 2004, the Tribunal reduced Mr. Messner’s suspension to 120 days and dismissed the charges that he willfully omitted to make the required entries in his aircraft’s journey logbook. The Tribunal upheld the other two charges.

Transport Canada is appealing the Tribunal’s decision to reduce Mr. Messner’s suspension and to dismiss the aircraft journey logbook violations due to errors of fact and law in the decision.

Established in June 2003, the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada provides a recourse mechanism for the air and rail sectors regarding administrative decisions and enforcement actions taken under federal legislation. These decisions include licensing and certification actions, refusals to remove enforcement notations, assessments of administrative monetary penalties, issuance of railway orders and notices of default on compliance agreements. The tribunal's authority will be extended to the marine sector in conjunction with regulatory reforms, currently underway, of the Marine Transportation Security Act and the Canada Shipping Act, 2001.

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