Photo: The waterfront Fire and ambulance station on Queens Quay.
The miracle landing and rescue a few weeks ago of that US Airways plane on the Hudson River has revived a few worries about safety and our very own Toronto Island Airport.
Of course, we know that it's there, the protests in the past about the frequent flights have been largely silenced, but if you pay attention, you'll see the Porter Airlines planes land and the buses go back and forth on Queens Quay.
Over at community newspaper The Bulletin, they are penning a piece about the very real danger of a bird sanctuary located near the airport. Geese are known to hang out in the area near Ontario Place and other places near the airport.
Says the Bulletin
The Island airport is located on the waterfront, adjacent to a bird sanctuary. Will it take a similar crash in Toronto's harbour for the Port Authority, and Transport Canada to finally accept that the Island airport is just not safe enough?
The Toronto Star said that in case an airplane did land on the water, that there are rescue plans. Here's their article.
Ditch into Toronto harbour?
"Boeing and Airbus do provide ditching checklists," says Captain Barry Wiszniowski, of the Air Canada Pilots Association. "And although they're very comprehensive, they do have to be managed carefully."
The Star goes on to report on how the marine unit would react.
A plane comes in toward the island airport with trouble – failed landing gear, for example. The pilot radios the control tower, which alerts the police marine unit. Within minutes, members of the unit are scrambling boats at the Queens Quay station and motoring out to clear the harbour of civilians.
If and when the plane actually hits open water out on the lake – regardless of whether it blows apart, sinks or floats – the situation will be different: Radio channel 16, to which all boats should be listening, crackles with distress and emergency calls. Nearby civilian craft, required to respond, head to the crash site to help police and fire crews in the search and rescue.
The fact is that you are much safer in a turboprop during a bird strike than a jet. In over 1 million takeoffs for the worldwide fleet of Q400s, not a single one has crashed due to birdstike.
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