RCAF considered using air marshals
Idea was to deter bad behaviour on VIP flights, documents reveal
OTTAWA— The air force consid- ered putting air marshals on military VIP flights to deter bad behaviour by passengers in the wake of a troubled trip where drunk travellers posed a safety risk, documents reveal.
The suggestion for on-board air marshals to “address inappropriate passenger behaviour immediately” was one of five recommendations developed by the Royal Canadian Air Force after a flight last December resulted in charges against retired NHL star Dave “Tiger” Williams.
In the end, the RCAF backed away from that recommendation but implemented other changes to avoid a repeat of the “significant” events on the now infamous Team Canada flight that was carrying athletes, musicians and business people to visit and entertain troops deployed overseas.
The trip to visit troops in Greece and Latvia became a big black eye for the military after reports that some passengers were drunk even before the flight departed and of questionable behaviour in the air — two passengers urinated themselves while on the plane. Some passengers were “disre- spectful” and the environment on the aircraft “was not free of harassment,” Col. Mark Goulden wrote in a Feb. 19 briefing note that reviewed air force policies in the aftermath of the flight.
“The safety of the flight was compromised due to the inebriated state of some of the passengers,” wrote Goulden, commander of 8 Wing in Trenton, which includes 437 Squadron, operators of the CC-150 Polaris aircraft used for the trip. Some passengers were so drunk that air force personnel feared they would be a safety hazard in the event of an emergency, according to documents obtained by the Star under access to information.
The documents obtained by the Star provide some additional details around the Team Canada trips — described as “Mardi Gras at 35,000 feet” by many squadron members, according to one memo. Other unsafe and inappropriate behaviour cited in the documents included passengers who helped themselves to drinks, boarded the plane with open alcoholic beverages and refused to sit for landing.
Williams was charged with sexual assault and assault. Through his lawyer, he has denied any wrongdoing. His trial is scheduled for next June. As previously reported by the Star, two members of the crew said they had been sexually harassed and touched by passen- gers during the flight. The behaviour of some passengers would likely have had “significant consequences” if they had been flying on a commercial airline, Goulden said.
Military insiders complained to the Star this year that with VIP passengers and senior military brass on-board, they felt powerless to curb drinking or rowdy behaviour, a concern later confirmed by investigations into the incident.
Those investigations were released earlier this month and Gen. Jonathan Vance, the chief of defence staff, said it was a situation “we were not equipped to handle and weren’t prepared for.”
Vance said the problems on the December flight were limited to a very small number of the passengers on-board. Still, he placed a permanent ban on serving alcohol on all similar flights in the future. And he said the military would replace the Team Canada visits with a new model. Goulden said the mission commander was left in the “difficult position” of denying boarding or intervening to halt the bad behaviour of travellers perceived as guests of senior military brass.
Goulden noted that alcoholrelated incidents happen on commercial flights, but military personnel lacked training in dealing with inappropriate passenger behaviour.