Captain in fatal ORNGE crash had ‘weak’ knowledge, expert says
Former training pilot testifies crew leader was missing skills as agency faces safety charges
Two months before an ORNGE helicopter crashed in 2013 killing all four aboard, a check pilot who had assessed Capt. Don Filliter felt he didn’t have the necessary technical knowledge to serve as a crew captain, court was old Tuesday.
Filliter and co-pilot Jacques Dupuy, as well as flight paramedics Chris Snowball and Dustin Dagenais, were killed May 31, 2013, shortly after taking off from Moosonee, Ont., en route to Attawapiskat.
ORNGE is defending itself against federal health and safety charges under the Canada Labour Code in connection with the crash for allegedly failing to provide safe working conditions.
Christoph Heusler, a former train- ing and check pilot with ORNGE, testified that he viewed sections of Filliter’s knowledge as “weak” when Heusler conducted his pilot proficiency check. He said he didn’t feel he received any traction when he brought forth certain concerns to the company.
When Heusler evaluated Filliter in March 2013, he said he chose to assess him as a first officer rather than as a captain due to Filliter’s recent absence from the company, his lack of recent night-flying experience and his unfamiliarity with Moosonee. Filliter had joined ORNGE earlier that month after an absence of more than two years.
Filliter scored a 2 for technical knowledge and instrument approach, which Heusler said is considered passable, but relatively low.
“He was working very hard to come up with the answers,” Heusler said Tuesday. “This is not a mark that you want to see on a captain’s (assessment).” When asked by Amanda Hauk, a Crown lawyer, whether Filliter had the skills needed to serve as a captain, Heusler replied, “in my opinion, at that time, no.” He said these concerns were conveyed to ORNGE’s chief pilot and director of operations.
But Filliter scored a 3 for takeoff and initial climb, a mark considered up to the necessary standard, defence lawyer Fredrick Schumann noted.
Schumann suggested all pilots make mistakes and that errors might not necessarily be a reflection of their prior level of experience or training.
“Surely, just because you have an accident, doesn’t mean that there’s some deficiency with the training,” he said.
“No, it does not mean that there’s a deficiency with the training,” Heusler agreed. The former ORNGE employee also testified that he observed issues when he oversaw Dupuy’s training during the summer of 2012. He said Dupuy trained using a simulator for a Sikorsky S-76C+ helicopter model, which had a “radical difference” from the S-76A model that he and Filliter flew in Moosonee.
“There are some things very unique to the C+ that just don’t apply to the 76A,” Heusler said.
“It’s just like if you were to compare a 1969 Volkswagen Beetle to a 2015 Volkswagen Beetle.”