Air

The TSB investigates civil aviation occurrences that take place in or over Canada and any place that is under Canadian air traffic control. It also investigates occurrences anywhere in the world that involved an aircraft in respect of which or that was operated by a person to whom a Canadian aviation document had been issued under Part I of the Aeronautics Act.

Over the last 10 years, about 270 aviation accidents and 730 aviation incidents in Canada are reported to the TSB every year. The TSB can also be involved in the investigation of some 200 international occurrences in the course of a year as well.

In 2015, civilian flights in Canada (not including ultralights, gliders, balloons, etc.) represented an estimated 4,353,000 hours of flying activity. There has been a significant downward trend in accident rates (the number of accidents per 100 000 flying hours) over the last decade from 2006 to 2015.

The TSB's Air investigators are certified as pilots, aircraft maintenance engineers, air traffic controllers, and airworthiness engineers. They all have varied and extensive experience in the aviation industry. As well as conducting investigations, they participate in national and international government and industry groups to monitor safety trends and communicate safety issues to change agents.