IV. Enforcement

Q3. How does the requirement for Principal Inspectors to oversee internal incident reporting align with the notion that SMS should allow Transport Canada to shift the focus from direct operational oversight to assessment of organizational systems?

The Aviation Enforcement SMS procedures do not require general oversight of an internal incident reporting system, let alone a review of every internally reported event. It does however require that incidents of regulatory contraventions, which are reported to Aviation Enforcement by a third party (e.g. Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Reporting System, inspector, police, or public), be specifically looked at. As stated in the policy referenced in Civil Aviation Directive 39, Transport Canada will not ignore any contraventions of the regulations that are reported to Transport Canada. Transport Canada, therefore, must ensure each reported contravention has been appropriately addressed, whether internally by the organization that committed the contravention, or through an investigation carried out by Aviation Enforcement. This aligns very well with the notion of maintaining accountability for both Transport Canada and the certificate holders, and contributes to the general assessment of the effectiveness of organizational systems.

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