When Airport Operators Are Victims

It is more popular to be a victim of circumstances that accept responsibilities for aerodrome operators. It is an aerodrome operator’s responsibility, no matter how small or large, to keep deer away from their own airfield. Aerodromes are under Federal Jurisdiction, and it is not Provincial responsibilities to provide wildlife management to aerodromes. An aerodrome association picked a dividing path when expecting wildlife management from a Province. Their article referenced below make statements that aerodromes are victims of their Province. Aerodrome operators should accept their responsibilities and design, develop, and implement their own Wildlife Planning and Management Plan. A regulatory requirement for aerodrome operators is that “no person shall allow a bird or other animal that is owned by the person or that is in the person’s custody or control to be unrestrained within the boundaries of an aerodrome.” When a deer is on an airfield, it is in the custody and control of that aerodrome operator.  

“The topic that seems to have demanded the most time from the board has been in regard to the continuing inability for Provincial airports to deal with deer and other ungulate at airports. As of the time of writing this, the issue remains outstanding and to say that I am frustrated is an understatement. The association has had numerous meetings with the office of the Ministry of Red Tape Reduction, the Ministry of Environment and Protected Areas, as well as the Ministry of Forestry, Park and Tourism, as with absolutely nothing to show for it. The next step is approaching the premier’s office directly. The unfortunate reality is that all it will take is one major accident due to a deer that was known about but unable to be dealt with for things to move forward. The association would much prefer to be proactive and avoid this impending catastrophe and will continue to push wherever we can to fix this problem. The association will continue to support our members through governmental lobbying and province-wide studies.”

There are four fundamental traits to a safety management system (SMS). These traits are trust, learning, accountability, and information sharing. A safety management system is a regulatory requirement for an aerodrome certificate holder. An aerodrome is defined as any area of land, water (including the frozen surface thereof) or other supporting surface used, designed, prepared, equipped or set apart for use either in whole or in part for the arrival, departure, movement or servicing of aircraft and includes any buildings, installations and equipment situated thereon or associated therewith. Generally speaking, any land parcel where an aircraft is operating out of is an aerodrome. An aerodrome may be a certified aerodrome, or a non-certified aerodrome. 

Aerodrome operators view themselves as victims of circumstances when they expect their responsibility to be a Provincial or Local Authority responsibility. An aerodrome operator establishes their own operational processes for the safe operation of their aerodromes. As a regulatory oversight inspector, I often heard aerodrome operators say that “the regulations do not say that…”.  Without accountability aerodrome operators become victims of their own circumstances, with expectations that someone else need to take on their responsibilities. 

Sometime ago I was invited to speak about SMS at an annual aviation council conference. The whole spectrum of aviation operators, from flight training schools, aerial applicators, airport and aerodrome operator, general aviation and airlines were at the conference attending the “Smarten Up SMS” talk. Smarten up SMS is about operators to accept their responsibilities, to initiate safety actions without delay, and to adapt their processes to the size, nature and complexity of the operations.

Aerodromes are often located in remote areas away from cities or towns where deer, birds, and other wildlife lives. It is the habitat that support wildlife and habitat management is one tool to reduce bird and wildlife activities in the vicinity of aerodrome. Aerodromes are surrounded by both public lands and private lands. The land parcel itself where an aerodrome is located is under federal jurisdiction. This combination of federal or provincial jurisdiction is a maze to navigate and often leads to nowhere. When entering the maze, the first path selected is what leads an aerodrome operator to the end result. The end result could be a blocked path, or it could be a path to the desired, or expected result. When an operator accepts accountability and responsibility for their operations is when the outcome becomes reliable. 

All things aeronautics and aviation safety is federally regulated. TC is the regulatory oversight body in Canada and the FAA in the USA. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is an association of 193 member states. ICAO makes recommendations to streamline the aviation industry globally. ICAO does not have enforcement powers, but member states accept their accountability to the aviation industry and align ICAO recommendations locally. A pilot operating out of any airport globally, expects to see the same lighting and marking globally as they do in their home-country. Aerodrome standards improve aviation safety. There are about 45,000 aerodrome globally. If every aerodrome were under local jurisdictions, there would be 45,000 ICAO member-jurisdiction. It is simpler to work with 193 than 45,000. In addition, aeronautics is under federal jurisdiction since it is impossible to define local land authority jurisdiction while flying. GPS has made some improvements, but there are several jurisdictional boundaries that are located differently on the land surface than what their description and map show on a piece of paper.  

Wildlife planning and management is an accountability of aerodrome operators. It is not just their responsibility since a wildlife on airport property is in the custody of the operator, but it is also for an aerodrome operator to comply with their responsibility that their aerodrome is suitable for aircraft operations. It is a regulatory requirement for a pilot before taking off from, landing at or otherwise operating an aircraft at an aerodrome, to be satisfied that there is no likelihood of collision with another aircraft or a vehicle, and that the aerodrome is suitable for the intended operation. Both these requirements are for the pilot-in-command (PIC) to comply with and are not a directly aerodrome requirements. The responsibility for an aerodrome operator is to ensure that their aerodrome is unlikely to be hazardous to aviation safety. Examples of hazards are wildlife, vehicles on an active runway, snow-covered runways, and foreign object debris (FOD) blowing across the field. An aerodrome operator must apply trust, learning, accountability and information sharing principles in their operation. In addition, and a hidden hazard, is the regulatory requirement for aerodrome operators with a safety management system to monitor the concerns of the civil aviation industry in respect of safety and their perceived effect on the holder of the airport certificate. Perceived hazards are real hazards.    

 
An Airport Wildlife Planning and Management (AWPM) plan should include a policy for the management of airport habitats that might attract wildlife. An operator should also establish a communication and alerting procedure for wildlife management personnel, and to alert pilots as soon as possible of the wildlife hazards at the airport and the risks associated with those hazards.
There are regulatory requirements for the development of civil instrument procedures (IAP) at aerodromes, which requires that specific aerodrome specifications be met prior to the publishing of any instrument procedure. An aerodrome operator has to maintain an obstacle-free environment needed to support an IAP at their aerodrome. Obstacle management is not the responsibility of the local landuse authority but is the responsibility of aerodrome operators. Aerodrome operators are responsible for obstacle management airside and inside the fence. Obstacles outside of the aerodrome fence, adjacent to, or in vicinity of the aerodrome are outside of the scope of aerodromes obstacle management. Conventional wisdom is since there is an aerodrome in the community, an aerodrome operator has the authority to remove aeronautical obstacles on private or public lands outside of the airport fence. The implementation of airport zoning regulations (AZR) is the only tool for an aerodrome operator to manage aeronautical obstructions to maintain obstacle free zones for arriving and departing aircraft.

Recent Supreme Court decisions have reaffirmed that federal government has exclusive jurisdiction over aeronautics. These decisions have examined whether or not specific provincial and municipal legislation impaired core federal power over aeronautics. These decisions speak to overlapping jurisdiction's laws as they relate to land use and aerodrome activities. Provincial, territorial and municipal legislation may have an impact on the activities related to an aerodrome, but it is beyond their scope and responsibility to manage aerodrome safety. 

Another issue that is the responsibility of an aerodrome operator is noise management. Aircraft noise concerns at airports are local in nature. Certain airports have an obligation to manage local noise issues associated with activity at airports. Measures to address these concerns inevitably have impacts that reach beyond the local area. The process is one that originates at the airport level and proceeds from the site to the regulator and eventually makes its way to the national regulatory process. 

There are several other non-regulated examples of tasks aerodrome operators must take care of. These tasks are often processes linked to their safety management system (SMS) policy. Other tasks they are required to action hazards that are immediate threat to aviation safety, such as snow and ice control, FOD control, airside construction management, power grid failures, and wildlife on the runway. 

When aerodrome operators are expecting other agencies or private landowners to take on deer control at the airport, operators make themselves victims of unforeseen circumstances, since they have no control over these agencies or landowners. When operating as a victim, there is no accountability, there is no trust, there is no learning, and there is no information sharing.  

There is only one option available for an aerodrome to manage deer, birds, and other wildlife beyond aerodrome property, and that is the airport zoning regulations which is linked to the airport certificate. An airport zoning regulations protects an airport for aeronautical obstructions to be built in the vicinity of the airport, it restricts landuse outside of the airport fence, and it protects the airport from landfills to be placed in the vicinity of the airport. 

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