- A glitch in the certification of a new storage tank at an Edmonton refinery has led to a scarcity of avgas across western Canada. Many fuel facilities at airports around B.C.’s Lower Mainland began running out on Friday (July 18). There is unverified information that deliveries could resume by next Wednesday (July 24), and that existing stock is being put aside for the use of avgas-consuming firefighting aircraft.
- The Transportation Safety Board has a new chairman. Yoan Marier has been appointed to replace Kathy Fox, who is stepping down after 17 years on the board, the last 10 years as its chairwoman. Marier has served on the board since September 2020 and has served the federal government in various roles, including with Transport Canada. Earlier in his career, Marier worked as a commercial pilot in the Montreal area.
- Chaos has descended once again on the air transportation industry as what on initial reports appears to be a software bug that was included in an automatically installed security update to Windows operating systems around the world. At one point, all three major airlines in the U.S. were grounded. Flights in Canada were also affected. Things are slowly getting back to normal. The air transportation sector was but one of many industries that were affected worldwide.
- Last week we reported that an Avro Lancaster, one of only two still flying in the world, was to make a stop at the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada and that the public would be allowed to tour it. Unfortunately, the crowds overwhelmed the museum’s capacity to handle them, and the museum is apologizing that many of those, even some who had tickets, were not able to see it. “Despite our best planning and preparations, we know many of our visitors left the museum yesterday disappointed with long wait times and at being turned away for tours of the Lancaster,” the museum posted on social media. See this week’s featured video for a tour of the Lancaster below.
- Canada has a new Chief of Defence Staff. (Army) General Jennie Carignan replaced General Wayne Eyre, also of the Army, on Thursday (July 18). Gen. Carignan has served in several international deployments and led the NATO Mission in Iraq. Her most recent assignment was as Chief of Professional Conduct and Culture. She holds two Masters degrees.