Did you know???

March ‘15
Newsletter
www.discoveryair.com
Message from the CEO:
Discovery Air Team,
After a very long and cold winter, I am hoping that spring is here for most of you. I know our South American team
members are heading into the fall after a very active summer fighting fires and completing work for our clients. We
are now flying on three continents and are becoming internationally known for the specialty aviation missions that
we offer.
I am asking each of you to put a renewed emphasis on safety. We are entering the busy season for much of the
company, and must continue to be vigilant about our safety practices. Last year we appointed Paul “Pitch” Molnar
as the Discovery Air Safety Officer, and our Safety Committee across the company is building on its strength in both
flight safety and occupational health and safety. A number of you attended the CHC Safety Summit this past week
and from all accounts, the presentations and best practices were excellent. I encourage you to share ideas and
thoughts with your teams throughout the organization, and to keep safety top of mind in all of our operations.
This past calendar quarter saw the renewal of two very large contracts for Discovery Air. Congratulations to Air Tindi
for the successful renewal of the Stanton Hospital Medevac Services Contract. This is a strong endorsement of the
team at ATL and our partner, Advanced Medical Solutions. Medevac services are fundamental to the people of the
NWT, and the newly upgraded aircraft and capabilities will very much enhance the services. I am looking forward to
the implementation of services under the new ACCESS (Aeromedical Critical Care Emergency Services Specialists)
banner. The second large contract renewal is the Fire Services Birddog Aircraft Services and Detection Aircraft
Services contract for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. This contract also brings new and upgraded fleets to
DAFS and will provide new and enhanced technology to our client. Congratulations to the DAFS team!
And lastly, I would like to acknowledge Discovery Air Defence Services who are deployed and operating this week
from 6 (!) different locations simultaneously. Quite a testament of our logistic capabilities, flexible operation and
geographical reach.
Jacob “Koby” Shavit
CEO
Discovery Air
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Air Tindi supports the YK1 trip to the Tulita Hand Games Tournament
In February 2015 Air Tindi flew a group
of 44 excited students and coaches in a
Dash 7 to Chief Wright School in Tulita
for a weekend Hand Games Tournament.
The group of students, all from the
Yellowknife Education District Number
1, represented teams from Mildred Hall
School, Willam MacDonald School, Sir
John Franklin High School, Kalemi Dene
School and Weledeh Catholic School.
the north; they are a bridge between
generations; and they are about pride and
culture. The sound of drumming echoes
from deep in the past, but provides a
direction for the future.
Over the weekend, students played teams
from all across the North, took part in a
jigging competition and participated in a
fashion show. Students even experienced
a ‘feed the fire ceremony,’ sang Dene
love songs and took part in a drum
dance followed by a traditional feast. The
students made new friends and will have
lasting memories.
Hand Games are steeped in history and
tradition and the tournament offers
much more than just a chance to make
music and win prizes. Hand games are
about making connections throughout
Mildred Hall grade 4 student Joshua
Drygeese said it was one of his favourite
times of the year. He won seventy dollars
in the hand games and thirty dollars
in a jigging competition. Hall donated
his winnings to the Mildred Hall lunch
program because he said it was the right
thing to do. Monique Marinier, a teacher
at William McDonald School, said that
these games have reignited the interest
in hand games. The school has ordered a
set of new drums and they are going to
continue practicing at lunch time.
Yellowknife Education District Number 1
would like to extent a huge ‘Mahsi Cho’
to Air Tindi for supporting these students
on an amazing experience.
Did you know???
Did you know that on February 20, 2015
Morningstar Air Express from Edmonton,
Alberta selected Discovery Air Technical
Services (DATS) to carry-out its next ATR72 heavy check? The check is scheduled to
start in July 2015 at the Quebec City facility.
Morningstar Air Express is an industryleading provider of specialized air cargo
services and are a new client to DATS.
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Weather in
Cambridge Bay
Living north of the 60th parallel
sometimes presents Discovery Air
employees with some unique challenges.
A typical February day in Cambridge
Bay can include temperatures as low as
-35C, dipping down to -70C with the
sometimes frigid wind.
In late February, Cambridge Bay was hit
with a particularly forceful blizzard; one
that lasted a few days, leaving the hamlet
covered in crippling snow drifts. When
the storm finally cleared, a few Air Tindi
pilots noticed that the hamlet dogs were
sleeping outside in -40C as they were
unable to get inside their doghouses that
were packed with snow. The pilots found
a few shovels and got to work digging
the doghouses out. All good intentions,
but when they went by the next day, the
dogs were still sleeping outside. Guess
they’re more equipped for the cold YCB
winters than the DA crew!
YUL Social Committee plans bowling night
Now that many Defence Services, Technical Services
and Discovery Air employees are co-located under
one roof in Montreal, the Discovery Air Montreal
Social Committee has been much more active. On
Friday March 6, 2015 a group of 20 employees and
significant others went 10-pin bowling at Laurentian
Lanes in Saint-Laurent. The teams all had fun playing
a total of three games. It was IT supervisor, Chris
Betteridge, who took the award for best game
though, having bowled a game of 156.
Pictured here from the bowling night are: Back (left to
right): Mylene Comeau, Yemina Trapid, Andrea Kunz,
Chris Betteridge, Mikaela Shopa, Marc Taillefer, Ryan
Kenick, Laila El-Koury and Chris Pilcher. Front (left to
right): Dee Josz, Victor Limon, Nancy Gordon and Talia
Valdez. Missing from the photo: Fran DeGraaf, Jonathan
Vaillancourt, Sergey Permin and Elena Bespalova.
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Discovery Air
in Pictures
This photo submitted by Training Captain, Jason Brown, depicts
a GSH helicopter during a heli-skiing outing. It was an exciting
and busy heli-skiing season in British Columbia this winter.
Pictured here on March 9, 2015 is Special Projects Manager, Rod
Brown, performing a routine ice check for Discovery Mining Services
250 miles north of Yellowknife. They routinely do these ice checks to
establish ice thickness to determine what types of aircraft can safely
land. The ice check that day revealed temperatures of -39C, 25km/h
winds and 5ft of ice.
Pictured here in late February is the sunshine
rising up in YQB’s sky after a ground run to
complete a C Check on a Saab 340 at the
Discovery Air Technical Services’ hangar.
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From February 15 to March 13, 2015, Discovery Air
Defence Services (DADS) employed 6 Alpha Jets at
Marine Corps Station Miramar in San Diego, California.
DADS was there to support the Royal Canadian Airforce
Fighter Weapons Instructor Course with an exercise called
Cougar South. While in the area, a favourite sight to see is
the famous Kansas City Barbeque, a.k.a. “Top Gun Bar”
in the Gaslamp District of San Diego. It is known for being
the filming location for scenes used in the film Top Gun,
most notably in which Goose and Maverick sing the Jerry
Lee Lewis hit “Great Balls of Fire.” Pictured here are
DADS pilots Ken “Flush” Welch (left) and Jeff “Beck”
Beckett (right) sharing a cocktail with DADS Operations
Coordinator, Nikki Harrison, at the famous Top Gun Bar.
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Achieving a Milestone at Defence Services
Also, a big congratulations to Dusty Miller
who completed his Aircraft Commander
Pilot Proficiency Check earlier on this
same day on a flight from Montreal to
Ottawa. This is no small feat! Dusty joined
the company as a Westwind pilot in April
2009 and is now the newest Westwind
Captain at Defence Services.
On February 15, 2015 Les “Ivan” Koski
completed his 2000th hour flying in the
Westwind. He achieved this impressive
milestone during the deployment to
Victoria for FELEX Trials in support of
HMCS Vancouver. These trials are to test
the new Combat Systems installed by
Lockheed Martin Canada on each RCN
Frigate as part of the Frigate Upgrade
Program. Ivan joined the company as a
Westwind pilot in March 2006 and is the
first Defence Services pilot to achieve
2000 hours in the Westwind.
On March 15, 2015 John “JT” Turner
completed his 2000th hour flying in the
Westwind. He achieved this impressive
milestone during an A-4 ferry to Europe.
JT joined the company as a Westwind
pilot in March 2006 and is the second
Defence Services pilot to achieve 2000
hours in the Westwind.
Discovery Air Defence Services would like
to congratulate Ivan, Dusty and JT for
their achievements and thank them for
their lasting commitment to the program.
Their commitment and skills have been
essential to our success. Experience
Matters.
Pictured here in Keflavik is Les “Ivan” Koski presenting John
“JT” Turner with his 2000 hours patch (Westwind). “Photo
bombing” the photo is Discovery Air Defence Services AME,
Brian “Carrot” Rockwell.
Pictured here on February 15, 2015 are Les “Ivan” Koski
(left) and Dusty Miller (right) celebrating their latest
achievements in Victoria, BC.
Did you know???
Did you know that Air Tindi partnered up with the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Northern Joint
Task Force last holiday season to send toys to remote
Northern Communities? For the fourth year in a row these
organizations collected toy donations from their employees
before getting together to wrap and carefully sort the toys to
be sent out. Pictured here are some of the presents collected
along with RCMP CPL Scott Sieffert and Air Tindi employees
Julie Baylon and Dennis Gutierrez. Photo Credit: RCMP.
Discover more about this program on the RCMP website.
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Air Tindi 2014 Monthly and Annual Safety Award Recipients
Air Tindi’s Joint Workplace
Health and Safety Committee
has a program which promotes
the company’s culture of safety
by recognizing positive safety
behaviours and actions by
employees.
the president; a Monthly Safety
Award Certificate; and a framed
photograph of an Air Tindi Aircraft.
From the twelve monthly recipients,
three finalists are selected and
voted on for the Annual Safety
Award. The Annual Safety Award
recipient is also presented with a
mahogany model of an Air Tindi
Twin Otter.
All employees are encouraged
to submit their observations/
experiences of positive safety
behaviours and actions of their
peers. Each month the submissions
are reviewed and one employee
is awarded with: a letter of
recognition and appreciation from
Congratulations to all Air Tindi
Monthly and Annual Safety Award
Recipients. We appreciate your
efforts and commitment to safety.
Keep up the great work!
Pictured here is Wes Hilton (right) presenting Steve Reitsma with the 2014 Air Tindi Annual Safety Award. Steve, without prompting, developed an
advisory manual for all of the lakes we fly into which highlighted the following: good approach areas, danger areas, dock condition, etc. He built
and categorized the manual so it is easily read, understood and updated in the hopes of furthering our training and increasing comfort level of all
of our pilots. Steve, Congratulations for being selected as the recipient of the 2014 Air Tindi Safety Award of the Year!
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January: Michael Kelly
February: Joel Strong Covello
March: Rafal Polujanski
April: Alex Colcomb
May: Mike Murphy
June: Steve Reitsma
July: Tyson Ristau
August: Alaina Botham
September: Pete Pender
October: Wes Hilton
November: Darrel Wright
December: Alex Harrington
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Air Tindi Ltd. and Advanced Medical Solutions
awarded Medevac Services Contract
On January 7, 2015 Air Tindi Ltd. (ATL)
announced that the Government of
the Northwest Territories awarded ATL
and Advanced Medical Solutions (AMS)
the medevac equipped aircraft services
contract for the Stanton Territorial Health
Authority (STHA). This contract is for
an 8 year term to 2023, with an option
for STHA to extend the contract for an
additional 2 years.
Did you know that Air Tindi’s Jason
Madsen, Manager Stores and Belinda
Beck, Human Resources Manager,
recently were asked to visit a local
high school aviation mechanics class?
Belinda and Jason spoke to the classes
about aviation in the north, Discovery
Air and various career paths within
the company.
Emergency Services Specialists) banner
and will ensure patient care is delivered at
its highest level.
Al Martin, President of ATL, commented
“ATL is very proud to provide this service
to residents and visitors to the NWT. We
will be implementing innovations through
replacement aircraft with upgraded
sensors and capabilities that suit the
rigorous weather and distance challenges
of the NWT. We are committed to
providing the safest and most reliable
service available and very pleased to
be working with AMS and the team at
STHA.
ATL has been working with AMS and
the STHA over the past seven years and
together they have established bestin-class medevac services for the NWT.
The new services will operate under
the ACCESS (Aeromedical Critical Care
Did you know???
Discovery Air Defence Services participates in the 8th annual Army
with our soldiers in their fundraising efforts
Run September 2015. Join our team!
The Army Run, the fastest growing run
in the country, is unlike any other run
in Canada. From the cannon used as a
starter’s pistol to the “dog-tag” medals all
participants receive when they cross the
finish line, Canada’s Army Run is military
in flavour from beginning to end. Military
bands, Army equipment displays, and a
pasta dinner served military field-kitchen
style make for a weekend you won’t soon
forget. More importantly, the event provides
an opportunity for the Army to thank
Canadians for their support as well as give
Canadians the chance to give their thanks
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to those who serve them in so many ways
at home and abroad.
On September 20, 2015 please take the
opportunity to join Discovery Air Defence
Services as they make the 5K and half
marathon runs along the scenic Ottawa
Rideau Canal. We will be running together
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to benefit “Soldier On” and the “Military
Family Fund.” Should you choose to join us,
Discovery Air Defence Services’ will cover
the Army Run entry fee for employees and
provide each runner with a custom made
running shirt. Please be sure to register
before May 31st to guarantee your spot
and take advantage of the early bird rate.
Discover more about this here.
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Discovery Air Technical Services
Develops AW139 EO/IR Retrofit
Installation Kit in Support of ISR
and SAR Missions
On February 20, 2015, Discovery Air
Technical Services (DATS) announced
that it developed a retrofit kit solution
that allows for the installation of an
EO/IR turret onto the Agusta AW139.
The installation kit can accommodate
9 inch through to 15 inch EO/
IR turrets for use in support of
ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and
Reconnaissance) and SAR (Search and
Rescue) missions. The kit has been
designed for easy retrofit installation
Discovery Air Employee
Travel Perks
Did you know that as a Discovery Air employee
there are several travel perks that you can take
advantage of for personal travel? Discovery Air
has agreements in place with various airlines,
car rental companies and hotels that you can
use, including:
with a minimum platform downtime.
DATS is offering the AW139 EO/
IR Turret Installation Kit effective
immediately with the turn-key supply
of the installation kit and on-site
installation services anywhere in the
world.
• Airlines: Air Canada, WestJet, Canadian
North and Air North.
o As an example, you could save 8% on an
Air Canada flight from Calgary to Toronto
through our corporate agreement.
This is another example of the DATS
team bringing to market a very
cost effective solution that provides
a superior option to international
special mission AW139 operators.
o As a Discovery Air pilot, you can take
advantage of our Reciprocal Jumpseat
Agreement on Air Canada flights.
• Car Rental Companies: Budget, Avis,
Enterprise and National.
o If you were to rent a Chevrolet Cruze at
the Las Vegas Airport for 5 days in April,
you would save 8.2% using the Discovery
Air plan versus booking through Avis
on your own. You always get best price,
so if Avis has a deal on that beats our
agreement, you will get the deal.
• Hotels: We have agreements with local hotels
in all of our business locations as well as
many other frequented areas.
For more information about these programs and
how you can take advantage of them for your
personal travel, please contact your local travel
administrator.
Discovery Air Defence Services completes first mission for the German Armed Forces
On January 13, 2015 Discovery Air Defence
Services (DADS) completed its inaugural
flight in Wittmund, Germany providing fast
jet airborne training services to the German
Armed Forces.
led the mission and continues to prove that
experience matters!
Daniel Gibeau, the Chief Operating Officer
of DADS commented “This first flight
for the German Armed Forces represents
a new chapter in contracted air training
services. We have been offering the highest
standards of air training in the world to our
clients for almost 10 years, and are now
proud to be exporting Canadian defence
capabilities to Europe.”
The successful mission was flown in support
of German Ground Controller Intercept
training and numerous intercepts were
conducted. The Lead Pilot of the DADS
German Team, Elmar “Elmo” Besold, with
over 2,000 hours experience on the A-4,
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Photo credit: Wouter Haan
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DA in the News: Exporting Expertise
Photo credit: Craig “Rocco” Richard.
as many other countries still do,” he said.
Moreover, he added, the program has
saved Canadian taxpayers “hundreds of
millions of dollars.”
When DND began looking for a more
affordable approach to “essential combat
training,” Scott Shrubsole, now director
of international programs at DADS, was
a CF-18 Hornet pilot posted to the Air
Staff at DND headquarters in Ottawa. “At
the time, they were contracting out their
services to a few U.S. companies and also
a Canadian company, Northern Lights,
but they couldn’t provide enough of the
services,” he said.
Greenland, Iceland and Scotland.
An excerpt by Ken Pole from the March/
April edition of Skies Magazine:
Repurposing civilian aircraft for military
use dates back to the dawn of powered
flight and continues to this day. The
most current example is the Boeing
P-8 Poseidon intelligence, surveillance
and reconnaissance (ISR) platform. It’s
a development of the company’s Next
Generation 737, the latest iteration of a
commercial aircraft first flown in 1967.
The regulatory approvals and permit
process are of necessity, rigorous.
None of this would have been possible
without an unprecedented Memorandum
of Understanding between Transport
Canada and the Department of National
Defence (DND). It’s an arrangement which
Jacob (Koby) Shavit, President and Chief
Executive Officer of the parent Discovery
Air, calls “a marvelous collaboration on
a framework for the civilian operation of
military aircraft, which has become the
gold standard which our allies to try to
replicate.”
But what about using military aircraft
for commercial purposes? That’s the
approach Discovery Air Defence Services
(DADS) of Dorval, Que., is taking, by
flying vintage but extensively-upgraded
Douglas A-4 Skyhawks to provide
aggressor training to the German
Luftwaffe.
Canada was one of the first members of
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) countries to pursue the
contracted approach as a partial answer
to increasingly tight defence budgets. In
2005, Top Aces (now DADS) was awarded
a contract to provide aggressor training
and support to the Canadian Forces.
Two Skyhawks were delivered to Germany
late last year, the first of seven covered by
the agreement. The Vietnam-era, singleseat Skyhawks—which will retain their
C-registry and feature the Discovery Air
logo as well as the Canadian flag on their
vertical stabilizers—were delivered by two
former Royal Canadian Air Force pilots.
Shawn “Burner” Byrne and Brad “Bear”
Dolan flew from the refit centre in Mesa
to Germany’s Wittmundhafen Air Base
with stopovers in Ottawa, Goose Bay,
“There was a need for an affordable subsonic aircraft that can do most roles in
support of military operational training,”
explained DADS president Paul Bouchard,
one of the founders of Top Aces.
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Shavit, who flew Skyhawks as well as
McDonnell F-4 Phantoms for Israel,
agreed. “It makes absolutely no sense to
fly an F-18 . . . against another F-18 at
a cost of $34,000 an hour each—as the
Canadian government used to do, and
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However, Shrubsole added, “It sort of
came to light that the U.S. companies
in Canada were (unwittingly) operating
without any air operators’ certificates and
no authorization to conduct commercial
operations in Canada.”
Operating under U.S. registration,
their aircraft were covered by the
“experimental” category under U.S.
Federal Aviation Regulations Part 91,
which Shrubsole points out are general
rules applicable to weekend recreational
flyers. Basically, the U.S. contractors
didn’t see the need for more stringent
regulation because they were directly
engaged by the Project Management
Office.
Not quite. The Aeronautics Act does
set out very early that the Minister of
Transport has fundamental regulatory
responsibility. But, it also stipulates that
“any matter relating to defence” is the
jurisdiction of the Minister of National
Defence; or at his direction, the Chief
of the Defence Staff. When the federal
government lawyers were drafting the
legislation, the potential for jurisdictional
conflict hadn’t been flagged because
there was apparently no need at the time.
That oversight was what led to the U.S.
companies providing aggressor training in
Canadian airspace.
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DA in the News: Exporting Expertise - Continued
Ultimately, Transport Canada and DND
thrashed out the MOU under which
DADS operates today, and which
Transport Minister Lisa Raitt lauded in a
statement issued to Skies by her office.
“Canada set the bar for a growing
business of industry-provided military
aviation support,” said Raitt.
“Somehow the flag got raised . . . and
at that point the military was forced look
at it,” said Shrubsole. “At this point,
Transport Canada took the position that
it really had nothing to do with them
because these were 100 per cent military
operations,” he recalled. DND agreed, but
the fact that a “commercial service” was
being provided to the Air Force presented
a regulatory conundrum. Type certification
of an ex-military aircraft flown by a civil
operator is not straightforward, because
elements such as ejection seats and
external stores points do not come under
civil aviation rules.
“Today, Discovery Air is a true Canadian
success story, providing world-class
airborne training services to Canada and
its allies around the world and showing
that our capabilities are second to none.
By continuing to succeed in global
markets, Discovery Air is demonstrating
that when Canadian firms expand and
succeed abroad, jobs and opportunities
are created here at home. . . . As part of
our commitment to creating new export
opportunities for Canadian firms as part
of the Defence Procurement Strategy, we
will continue to work with Discovery Air
to ensure its world-leading capabilities
continue to bring it success at home and
abroad,” continued the Transport Minister
in her email.
To read the article in its entirety, please
see pages 86 and 87 of the March/April
edition of Skies Magazine or click here.
Discovery Air Business Development Teams Hard at Work
Discovery Aviation Academy attended the Careers in Aviation Expo held in
Hamilton on February 7, 2015 and in Ottawa on February 21, 2015. The
Careers in Aviation Expo presented a tremendous opportunity for anyone
interested in aviation and aerospace careers the chance to rub shoulders
with industry leaders from a variety of sectors from coast-to-coast. The
event consisted of presentations and panel sessions throughout the day,
which covered a broad spectrum of pertinent topics related to diverse
futures in the aviation field. Jason Fogg and Odette St-Amour attended the
events to promote the Academy as well as the wide variety of employment
opportunities available within the Discovery Air network.
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Discovery Air Business Development Teams Hard at Work - Continued...
Top Aces USA exhibited at the 2015
Air Force Association Air Warfare
Symposium at Rosen Shingle Creek
Hotel in Orlando on February 11–13.
Secretary of the Air Force Deborah
Lee James, Chief of Staff of the Air
Force General Mark Welsh and other
air force leaders also spoke at the
symposium.
From Left to right: Dan Hodges,
Consultant, Top Aces USA; Deke
Philman, VP, Top Aces USA; Jason
Regenwetter, VP International
Operations, DADS; and Thomas
Schadegg, Director Business
Development, Top Aces USA.
Discovery Air Defence Services (DADS) exhibited at IDEX
2015 in Abu Dhabi, UAE on February 22-26. The biennial
exhibition is one of the most strategically important triservice defence exhibitions in the world. DADS exhibited
air combat training and military flight training solutions to
Middle Eastern and international visitors. DADS got to hear
firsthand from key international decision makers on their
unique air combat training and pilot training needs.
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Upcoming Shows
Be sure to stop by to visit a Discovery Air booth at an upcoming tradeshow or conference in your area!
Division
Show
Date
Location
Technical Services
Association Québécoise du Transport Aérien
March 18-20
Quebec, QC
GSH
Nunavut Mining Symposium
April 13-16
Iqaluit, NU
Technical Services
MRO Americas
April 14-16
Miami, FL
GSH
KEG Conference
April 14-15
Kamloops, BC
Top Aces USA
AFA Annual Golf Tournament
April 16
Washington, DC
Technical Services
Northern Air Transport Association
April 27-29
Yellowknife, NT
GSH
NABOC Conference
April 28-30
Prince Rupert, BC
Technical Services
Regional Cargo Carriers Association
April 28-30
Scottsdale, AZ
Technical Services
Regional Airline Association
May 11-14
Cleveland, OH
Technical Services
Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association and
Suppliers Annual Meeting
May 17-20
Punta Cana
Discovery Air
CANSEC
May 27-28
Ottawa, ON
Technical Services
Chi-Stat
June 3
Chicago, IL
Defence Services
Paris Air Show
June 15-21
Paris, France
Defence Services
Bagotville Airshow
June 20-21
Bagotville, QC
Defence Services
Royal International Air Tattoo
July 17-19
London, England
DA in the News: Pilot belly-lands old plane
“That put us in a precarious position,”
said Kirbyson. “At that point, we were
trying to figure it out. Alternate methods,
emergency methods, anything we could
think of.”
An excerpt by Carmen Weld from
Castanet:
A Royal Canadian Air Force trained pilot
managed to safely land a 77-year-old
biplane Tuesday [March 10, 2015], without
landing gear, single handily saving himself,
his passenger and the plane.
Airport officials directed them to a grassy
runway for the softest place to attempt a
landing. The pilot then circled the airport
to use up fuel.
[Discovery Air Defence Services’] Pilot
George Kirbyson told CTV that he didn’t
have time to be afraid as he chose to
belly-land the vintage Beech staggerwing
biplane.
“Once it touches down, not a lot of
control left. Just hold on and go for a
ride,” he said.
Amazingly there were no fuel leaks or fires,
and no one was hurt. The plane, however,
did suffer some bumps and bruises, but
the pilot is confident she will fly again.
“We’ll get it going again,” Kirbyson said.
CTV News photo. Discover more about this
landing in Abbotsford here.
“I can’t say I was scared. I just had to fly
the airplane, and that takes most of my
concentration. No time to get scared,”
Kirbyson said.
He was reportedly out testing the newly
restored airplane built in 1938, one of only
seven in the country, when he realized
something was wrong. Kirbyson says
something happened with the landing
gear as he flew over Abbotsford, and the
wheels wouldn’t come down.
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Caught Performing Excellently
Yannic Boily, Chef de service maintenance, Services Techniques:
Promu à ce poste en septembre 2013,
M. Yannic Boily n’a cessé depuis son
arrivée de voir à la coordination de
multiples changements tant au niveau
des processus d’affaires qu’opérationnels.
Dans la dernière année, Yannic a été un
acteur clé dans l’implantation de l’une
des initiatives d’amélioration continue
d’importance pour DATS. Connue sous
l’appellation DMS (Daily Management
System), cette initiative a pour but
d’améliorer substantiellement l’efficacité
opérationnelle de la production. L’objectif
principal de cette démarche est de
produire des indicateurs de performance
afin de donner une visibilité en temps réel
de l’avancement des projets, et ce, afin
d’aider à la prise de décisions proactives
pour les gestionnaires ainsi que les
employés eux-mêmes. Dans cet optique,
Yannic a fait un travail remarquable afin
de rallier son équipe de superviseurs
ainsi que l’ensemble des employés
touchés pour s’assurer que cette initiative
d’amélioration continue connaisse le
succès escompté. Après plusieurs mois de
dur labeur, nous sommes en en mesure
de constater les effets bénéfiques de ce
projet ainsi que les gains opérationnels
en résultant. Nous profitons de cette
tribune pour souligner l’engagement, la
contribution et le leadership dont Yannic
a fait preuve dans les derniers mois.
Félicitations Yannic!
Promoted to this position in September
2013, Mr. Yannic Boily has continuously
been involved in the coordination of
multiple changes in both the business
and operational processes. In the
past year, Yannic was a key player in
the implementation of a continuous
improvement initiative of importance
at DATS. Known as DMS (Daily
Management System), this initiative aims
to substantially improve productions
operational efficiency. The main
objective of this approach is to produce
performance indicators in order to
provide real-time visibility of the progress
of projects, in order to help assist
managers and employees in making
proactive decisions. In this context, Yannic
does a wonderful job of rallying his
team of supervisors and all employees
involved to ensure that the continuous
improvement initiative is a success. After
months of hard work, we are able to see
the benefits and resulting operational
gains of this project. We would like to
take this opportunity to acknowledge the
commitment, contribution and leadership
Yannic has shown in recent months.
Congratulations Yannic!
Lucia Romanchik, Fire Services’ Controller
Lucia started with Discovery Air on
January 7, 2009, assisting Corporate
office management with accounting and
financial reporting. Effective October
1, 2010 she became the controller for
Discovery Air Fire Services (DAFS). Her
primary job functions are to support
financial reporting and accounting
functions. Lucia is an absolutely integral
member of the DAFS team. She
has amazing attention to detail and
provides the company with on time
accurate information – a highly valuable
13 S a f e t y
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commodity! On top of everything that
she does on a day to day basis for DAFS,
Lucia still finds the time to complete
courses towards achieving a CPA
designation and is the proud Mother of
two fantastic boys. The team at DAFS
views Lucia in the highest regard and
highly values her.
Integrity
DATS participates in 2015 DATS participe à 2015
Pentathlon des Neiges
Pentathlon des Neiges
On February 21, 2015 a team
from Discovery Air Technical
Services (DATS) entered into
the Pentathlon des Neiges,
which is a competitive winter
sport relay competition.
The race took place on the
magnificent Plains of Abraham
in Quebec City on a perfect
winter day (steady at -12C.)
After finishing in 40th place
in the 2014 Pentathlon des
Neiges, the DATS team aimed
to finish in the top 10 this year.
Le 21 Février 2015, l’équipe des Services
Techniques Discovery Air (DATS) a su
relever le défi au Pentathlon des neiges,
un sport basés sur le concept de course à
relai. La compétition se tenait sur le site des
Plaines d’Abraham avec une température
parfaite de -12C. Le but établi fut de
terminer rien de moins que dans le top
10 après avoir terminé au 40e rang l’an
dernier.
The 2015 DATS team consisted
of ACA Mechanic André
Leclerc (8.8km bike), Sheet Metal Technician Samuel Couillard
(3.4km run), Manager Dominic Prescott (6km cross country ski),
Customer Service Administrator Daniel Thiboutot (4.4km skate)
and Sheet Metal Technician Stéphane Duguay (3.3km snowshoe).
The team collectively made huge improvements over last year
finishing the race in only 1 hour and 44 minutes, coming in 7th
place overall.
DATS’ President JP Bastien said, “Wow, I am really proud of our
guys’ achievement! They trained hard all year to improve last
year’s performance and their determination in doing so is giving
the whole company a feeling of pride.”
Stéphane Duguay commented, “last year, our motto was ‘we’re
here to learn’ as the Russians said in 1972. This year was more
‘let’s show these guys what DATS is made out of!‘” All five DATS
team members are excited for next year’s competition; hoping to
close the gap between themselves and the other six teams that
finished ahead of them this year.
L’équipe de 2015 se composait André
Leclerc mécanicien ACA (8.8 km à vélo),
Samuel Couillard le tôlier (course 3.4 km),
Dominic Prescott chef de service (6 km ski
de fond), Daniel Thiboutot l’Administrateur
au Service à la Clientèle (4.4 km patin)
et Stéphane Duguay le tôlier (3.3 km raquettes). L’équipe a
collectivement fait d’énormes améliorations depuis l’an dernier
pour finir la course en seulement 1 heure 41 minutes et 44
secondes, venant en 7e place !!
La Président de DATS Jean-Pierre Bastien a de bons mots pour
“son” équipe, “Wow, Je suis vraiment fier de ce que nos
gars ont accompli cette année. Ils se sont entrainés fort toute
l’année dans le but d’améliorer la performance de l’an passé et
leur détermination à atteindre leur but rend tout le reste de la
compagnie très fier”.
Stéphane Duguay ajoute, “l’an passé notre devise était: “Nous
sommes ici pour apprendre” comme le disais les Russes lors
de la Série du Siècle en 1972. Cette année, c’était plus : “
Montrons-leur ce dont l’équipe DATS est faite!! ». Chacun de
cinq participants est impatient de participer de nouveau à la
compétition corporative l’an prochain et qui sait s’il créeront une
autre surprise en allant rattraper les 6 autres équipes devant eux.
Calling All Aviation Enthusiasts!
Appel à tous les passionnés d’aviation!
National Aviation Day in Canada formally recognizes the
date of the first powered flight in Canada. It also provides a
day for Canadians to commemorate past achievements and
celebrate new chapters in aviation and aerospace excellence
in Canada.
La Journée nationale de l’aviation au Canada reconnaît officiellement
la date du premier vol propulsé au Canada. Elle donne aux Canadiens
l’occasion de commémorer les réalisations passées et de célébrer
de nouveaux chapitres sur la voie de l’excellence en aviation et en
aérospatiale au Canada.
This year, in honour of National Aviation Day, Transport
Canada is launching a photo contest on February 23. They
are looking for your aviation themed photos that present
the enormously unique features of aviation, from the
routine aspects to the more thrilling.
Cette année, pour souligner la Journée nationale de l’aviation,
Transports Canada lancera un concours de photo le 23 février. Ils
vous invitent à envoyer vos photos qui présentent les caractéristiques
extrêmement uniques de l’aviation, des aspects courants aux aspects
plus excitants.
http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/opssvs/
secretariat-2086.html
http://www.tc.gc.ca/fra/aviationcivile/opssvs/
secretariat-2086.html
14 S a f e t y
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Te a m w o r k
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Focus
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Innovation
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Integrity
Discovery Air Inc.
170 Attwell Drive, Suite 370
Etobicoke, Ontario
M9W 5Z5
www.discoveryair.com
Get in Touch:
Comments and contributions to FlightPlan are
welcomed and appreciated. We are specifically
looking for your stories, pictures and announcements
to feature in future editions of FlightPlan!
Please contact Sheila Venman at:
(514) 694-5565 ext 3259 or email to
[email protected]
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