Chair Kathy Fox says TSB still concerned about the lack of adequate standards and regulations for hot air balloons in Canada
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) continues to be concerned about the lack of adequate standards and regulations for hot air balloons in Canada.
Hot air balloons are considered aircraft under the Aeronautics Act. However, while balloons can carry up to 12 fare-paying passengers, those operators are not regulated at a level comparable to that of other commercial aircraft operators.
“We are asking operators and the regulator to work together to establish regulations, common standards, and best practices so that everyone can continue to safely experience the excitement of floating above the landscape,” said TSB Chair Kathy Fox.
In 2008, the TSB issued two recommendations for hot air balloon safety that are still outstanding. The first (A08-01) urged Transport Canada (TC) to ensure that passenger-carrying commercial balloon operations provide a level of safety equivalent to that established for other aircraft of equal passenger carrying capacity. The second (A08-02), meanwhile, urged TC to ensure that balloons carrying fare-paying passengers have an emergency fuel shutoff.
The TSB is an independent agency that investigates air, marine, pipeline, and rail transportation occurrences. Its sole aim is the advancement of transportation safety. It is not the function of the Board to assign fault or determine civil or criminal liability.
For more information, contact:
Transportation Safety Board of Canada
Media Relations
Telephone: 819-360-4376
Email: media@tsb.gc.ca