Commercial aircraft, trainer plane narrowly avoid mid-air collision

Mount Royal U Cessna and DHC-3T Otter fly within 152 metres of each other

Officials are investigating after two aircraft — including one owned by Mount Royal University’s aviation program — came a little too close for comfort in the skies west of Calgary.

Detailed in an incident report published in Transport Canada’s Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Reporting System, a de Havilland DHC-3T Otter owned by Calgary’s Kenn Borek Air was on approach to Calgary International Airport during the noon hour Thursday when its collision avoidance equipment alerted of another aircraft on a possible collision course.

The other aircraft, a Cessna 172R owned by the aviation program at Calgary’s Mount Royal University, had departed from Springbank Airport and was operating in airspace northwest of Calgary.

According to online flight history data, the Otter was a few kilometres south of Cremona when its collision avoidance system issued a “resolution advisory” — an urgent warning that a collision may be imminent, and includes verbal commands ordering the pilot to immediately climb or descend to avoid the other aircraft.

Modern traffic alert and collision avoidance systems installed in most aircraft alert crew when other aircraft come within six kilometres, and issue resolution advisory warnings when that distance closes to just under four kilometres.

Transport Canada states the two aircraft passed each other by a margin of only 152 metres.

Pilots are required to report such near misses to air traffic control, who in turn notify Nav Canada, the agency responsible for civil air navigation across the country.

Leon Cygman, chair of Mount Royal University’s international business, supply chain management and aviation schools, said in a statement the matter is under review.

“Mount Royal’s Safety Management System (SMS) was activated, and in keeping with usual practice around safety concerns, Mount Royal’s Aviation program is investigating,” he wrote.

“We remain focused on maintaining and promoting safety for students and staff.”

This comes less than a year after two Mount Royal flight instructors — Jeff Bird, 35, and Reynold Johnson, 64 — were killed on Feb. 13 when their twin-engine Tecnam trainer aircraft crashed northwest of Cochrane.

In response, MRU took their two remaining Tecnams out of service, with the intention of replacing them with comparable twin-engine aircraft.

The cause of that crash remains under investigation.