A report commissioned by the Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre (VHFC) has dismissed safety concerns raised by Harbour Air over Ledcor Group’s new floatplane terminal in Coal Harbour.
The report is the work of Glosten Associates marine engineering firm and float plane aviation expert Gord Stevens.
“Concerns raised regarding the ability of VHFC to provide safe, efficient and effective services for floatplane operators at its facility in Coal Harbour are absolutely false,” said Paul McElligott, president and COO of Ledcor Transportation and Resources, in a news release this morning.
McElligott said the report responds to a November 5 incident in which a Harbour Air floatplane moored at VHFC was found partly sunk, with a hole in its left pontoon. At the time, Harbour Air CEO Greg McDougall said he believed the damage had been caused by wave action forcing the plane to rub against or hit the docks.
Following that incident, McElligott said, “it was important to VHFC to cut through the rhetoric of our detractors that has been reported in the media and present a factual and independent assessment of the facility that can help bring this impasse to a close.”
Lease talks between VHFC and Harbour Air, the terminal’s planned anchor tenant, have stalled over lease costs and, most recently, safety issues. (See “Safety concerns latest chapter in floatplane terminal saga” – BIV Business Today, September 16).
According to Ledcor, report author Stevens found that:
- the dock appears to be as reasonable and appropriate to use as any other when responsible judgment is exercised;
- the length, width and height of the dock and the markings on it appear to be very conducive to operations in terms of safety and general usability; and
- the dock and the facility in general appear to be above industry practices in construction and organization.
McDougall disputed the independence of the just-released report.
“Harbour Air is currently co-operating with the only independent safety study now underway, an engineering study that has been commissioned by [BC Pavilion Corp.], the provincial agency that oversees the proposed terminal,” McDougall said in an email.
“Harbour Air and other airlines, through their observations and expertise, believe that there are safety and design issues with the VHFC docks and its location. We are waiting for the results of that study, which we believe will offer an independent assessment of the safety and design of the proposed floatplane terminal at the Vancouver Convention Centre.”
VHFC did not respond to an interview request by press deadline.
Jenny Wagler
@JennyWagler_BIV