Saltspring Air will make Canadian history Wednesday with the installation of emergency exit pop-out windows on its Beaver seaplanes.
The windows make it easier for passengers to escape in the event of a crash in water.
The company said the new windows will be the first commercial application since Victoria-based Viking Air — which has the rights to build de Havilland aircraft and parts — finished developing the window-conversion kits.
They will be installed Wednesday on the first of Saltspring Air’s four-plane fleet at Viking Air headquarters in Sidney.
Viking Air had promised to design a pop-out window — for voluntary installation by seaplane operators, in the absence of any Transport Canada requirement — after the Nov. 29 crash of a Richmond-based Seair Seaplanes Beaver in Lyall Harbour off Saturna Island.
Six passengers, including a mother and her infant daughter, perished after being unable to escape the plane before it sank in 14 metres of water. The pilot and one other passenger survived with serious injuries.
Viking CEO Dave Curtis said the company started working on plane modifications immediately after the crash. He said a secondary latch system on the exit door is also in the works and will be available as optional equipment to Beaver owners in coming months.
Saltspring Air spokesman Phillip Reece said the Ganges-based company is proud to be first with the window modification. "We always want to be progressive on the safety side," he said.
Bill Yearwood, regional manager of the federal transportation safety board in Richmond, applauded the news.
"Excellent, that’s good news," he said. "It’s nice to see the airlines, the float operators, taking the initiative as soon as [pop-out windows] are available."
Randy Wright, senior vice-president of Harbour Air Seaplanes, confirmed Tuesday the company will also convert the windows in its 15 Beaver aircraft as soon as they become available. "The windows on all our operating Beavers will be replaced," said Wright. "Anything to improve safety is a good thing."
He said the planes will likely be converted in the coming months with regular servicing.
Curtis said Viking Air faced a challenge with developing the windows. "The pop-out window is used in the offshore helicopter industry but never deployed on a fixed-wing aircraft," he said. "It wasn’t a significant engineering feat, but there was no design criteria and no regulatory requirements."
It will cost Saltspring Air about $3,000 to outfit each plane with two windows. Installation costs will bring the total to more than $6,000 per plane, said Reece, adding it’s "a small cost" when it comes to ensuring safety.
The windows fit into the existing holes, secured by gaskets, so there is no need to cut into fuselage for the installation. The gasket allows the window only to be pushed outwards, not in. In the event of an emergency, about 60 pounds of pressure is needed to push the window out of its place. Passengers have two points of contact on the window, which avoids accidental removal, said Reece.
It will take Viking staff between eight to 12 hours to install the windows on a plane. Another 24 hours is required for the installation "to cure," he said.
The Vancouver Sun published a six-part investigative series on float-plane safety starting May 29 that focused on the federal government’s long-standing failure to implement suggestions of the transportation safety board.
The series, Broken Wings, also addressed the mandatory use of lifejackets, exit training and exit improvements such as pop-out windows, as well as satellite-based tracking systems that can help search-and-rescue crews pinpoint the site of a crash and thereby save lives and resources.
Just two days into the series, then-Transport Minister John Baird ordered his staff to undertake a series of initiatives aimed at improving float-plane safety.
Those initiatives included:
• An updated float-plane safety awareness campaign for passengers and commercial operators
• Strengthening investigation and enforcement actions against operators found not to be following regulations and standards
• Undertaking a full review with industry stakeholders, safety advocates, affected communities and other jurisdictions of potential measures to improve float-plane safety, including a full review of aircraft design standards related to float-plane issues
• Investigating the possibility of implementing improvements in exits from submerged float planes, such as the operation of emergency exits, pop-out windows, wearing of life vests by passengers and exit training for commercial crews.
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