He Said, She Said Begins as Air Transat Inquiry Get Underway

PHOTO: A Canadian Transportation Agency inquiry is underway into the events that unfolded when two transatlantic Air Transat flights were diverted to Ottawa, with passengers on board one aircraft enduring up to six hours stuck in the plane. (Photo via Flickr/Abdallah)

Day one of the Canadian Transportation Agency’s inquiry into what transpired when two transatlantic Air Transat flights were diverted to Ottawa, got underway in Ottawa Wednesday and quickly turned into a game of ‘He said, she said’.

"Air Transat said that it's the airport of Ottawa, and Ottawa airport says it is Air Transat who didn't ask for help," said Blaise Pascal Irutingabo, a passenger on Air Transat's Brussels flight who endured a six-hour delay. "As a passenger, we don't know who to blame or who to talk to about what happened."

At the inquiry, however, the Ottawa International Airport Authority appeared to place the blame squarely with Air Transat.

According to the CBC, Mark Laroche, CEO of Ottawa International Airport Authority, said that Air Transat was being misleading when blaming the airport for not bringing stairs and fuel to the planes.

"The airport authority is not in charge of many of the problems at the heart of this inquiry," he said, saying that those responsibilities are part of Air Transat’s agreement with its ground contractors at Ottawa Airport.

But when pressed by Madeleine Renaud, a lawyer for Air Transat, Laroche admitted that the airport had tried to get a fuel truck to attend to a KLM plane by passing on information, adding that it was something they would have done for Air Transat had they asked. He went on to say that they will try to assist if asked, but that doesn’t make it the airport’s responsibility.

"They [Air Transat] are responsible for refuelling, catering, decision to gate or to deplane, those are their responsibilities." Laroche continued. "I provide the infrastructure, the facility, the co-ordination centre." 

On July 31, 2017 at approximately 5:30 PM, 20 flights, with over 6,000 passengers, were diverted to Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport due to severe weather in Montreal. Passengers testified that they were originally told they would be in Ottawa for approximately 30 minutes, but passengers on one flight ultimately spent six hours on board the Air Transat aircraft that had arrived from Brussels.

As the delay dragged on and passengers asked to deplane, they received various responses from flight crew saying that the airport had no stairs to deplane them or that Canada Customs wouldn't permit them to deplane.

Witnesses from the airport authority said later that the passengers from Air Transat’s Brussels flight could have been processed through Customs and Immigration in 60 to 90 minutes.

Laroche testified that the airport had little notice that the aircraft would be arriving but said that gates were available, or could be found, if some of the airlines wanted to let passengers off. But that the airport never reached its capacity.

For it's part, Transat's lawyers questioned whether Ottawa Airport was prepared for the sudden influx of aircraft and passengers, with Renaud saying "You're telling the agency you were in control of the situation?". But the airport replied that during exceptional circumstances like this, they would normally provide a runway and let NAV Canada direct flights.

The most damning testimony, however, came from passengers on board the flights, with one passenger, Patricia Abraham, saying that the "conditions were deplorable" on board the aircraft.

Passengers testimony included that no food or drinks were offered for hours, the aircraft was unbearably hot, that they were treated like hostages or cattle, that cabin crew were not helpful, and that due to a child being sick, the cabin had a “stench” to it. One passenger even claimed that cabin crew took selfies outside the aircraft when the doors finally opened.

Passenger, Maryanne Zehil, testified that after the air conditioning went off when the plane lost power, she went to speak to the Captain about her dog, which was travelling in the hold, and that the cockpit was air conditioned.

Passenger Maryanne Zehil says her dog was in the luggage area and went into cockpit to talk to captain about it & he had air conditioning pic.twitter.com/FBjX0XUN5p

— Ashley Burke (@AshleyBurkeCBC) August 30, 2017

Another passenger, Marie-Hélène Tremblay, who was travelling with her spouse and 13-month old baby, testified that they felt like a piece of luggage on the flight, and also said that when the situation came to light, Air Transat’s reaction was wrong and instead of blaming the Ottawa Airport Authority, they should have admitted that they need to improve.

The Tremblay's say they felt like a piece of luggage on delayed Air Transat flight and want passengers to be treated better pic.twitter.com/hjZoQ9fhDd

— Ashley Burke (@AshleyBurkeCBC) August 30, 2017

The inquiry gets underway again on Thursday, with Air Transat officials, including the CEO, and pilots and flight directors of the two flights, expected to testify, along with ground crew responsible for refueling aircraft.

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