It’s an industry boom that knows no altitude limit. As Alberta’s oil
industry rapidly expands, efficiently moving workers to and from remote
extraction sites has become vital. But as petroleum companies of all
sizes increasingly turn to private planes and company-operated airports,
the skies are getting dangerously crowded. “There is a mentality that,
here in the Great White North, there is nothing but space and open
skies,” says Bill Werny, vice-president of operations at the Fort McMurray Airport Authority. “That’s just not the case anymore.”
While many oil-sands airports consist of a few small planes on a
single strip of tarmac, the biggest companies charter more flights than
many of Canada’s top commercial airlines. Combined, oil-sands airplanes
move roughly 750,000 people a year, more than municipal airports in St.
John’s, Victoria, Regina or Saskatoon. But while the location of
municipal airport tarmacs is regulated by Transport Canada, private
tarmacs can be built wherever someone is willing to lease the land. At
low altitudes, Werny says the only navigation technique available to
pilots is to “see and avoid.” Near-collisions, he warns, are becoming
increasingly common.
This month, following on the heels of a study by the Fort McMurray
Airport Authority that found 47 private air strips in the Athabasca
oil-sands region alone, Werny set up a round-table group including
private airstrip owners. While oil companies are wary of having private
airstrips become regulated, many are taking part to discuss safety
problems. While the group has “no authority” to set regulations, it is a
first attempt to improve oversight for congestion concerns that have
grown too big to ignore.
Story and Photo: http://www2.macleans.ca
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment