Aeronautics Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. A-2)

Marginal note:Duty to assist Minister

8.8 The owner or person who is in possession or control of a place that is inspected or audited under subsection 8.7(1), and every person who is found in the place, shall

• (a) give the Minister all reasonable assistance to enable the Minister to carry out the inspection or audit and exercise any power conferred on the Minister by that subsection; and

• (b) provide the Minister with any information relevant to the administration of this Act or the regulations, notices, orders, security measures or emergency directions made under this Part that the Minister may reasonably require.

General

Marginal note:Regulations establishing compensation payable for death or injury

• 9 (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations establishing the compensation to be paid and the persons to whom and the manner in which such compensation shall be payable for the death or injury of any person employed in the federal public administration or employed under the direction of any department in the federal public administration that results directly from a flight undertaken by that person in the course of duty in the federal public administration.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) Regulations made under subsection (1) shall not extend to the payment of compensation for any death or injury in respect of which provision for the payment of other compensation or a gratuity or pension is made by any other Act, unless the claimant elects to accept the compensation instead of the other compensation, gratuity or pension under that other Act.

PART IIMilitary Investigations Involving Civilians

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

• 10 (1) The following definitions apply in this Part.

  Authority

  Authority means the Airworthiness Investigative Authority designated under subsection 12(1). (directeur)

  civilian

  civilian means a person who is not subject to the Code of Service Discipline set out in Part III of the National Defence Act. (civil)

  department

  department means

  • (a) any department of the Government of Canada, including the minister responsible for it and any person acting on behalf of that minister;

  • (b) any body listed in the schedule to the Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board Act; and

  • (c) any fact-finding authority, body or person established or appointed by such a department, minister, person or body. (ministère)

  military-civilian occurrence

  military-civilian occurrence means

  • (a) any accident or incident involving

    • (i) an aircraft operated by or on behalf of the Department of National Defence, the Canadian Forces or a visiting force, or an installation operated by or on behalf of any of the above that is designed or used for the manufacture of an aircraft or other aeronautical product, or that is being used for the operation or maintenance of an aircraft or other aeronautical product, and

    • (ii) a civilian; or

  • (b) any situation or condition that the Authority has reasonable grounds to believe could, if left unattended, induce an accident or incident described in paragraph (a). (accident militaro-civil)

  visiting force

  visiting force has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Visiting Forces Act. (force étrangère présente au Canada)

• Marginal note:Application

  (2) This section and sections 11 to 24.7 apply in respect of military-civilian occurrences

  • (a) in or over Canada;

  • (b) in or over any place that is under Canadian air traffic control; and

  • (c) in or over any other place in any of the following cases:

    • (i) Canada is requested to investigate the occurrence by an appropriate authority,

    • (ii) the civilians involved are employed in that place by the Department of National Defence or by the Canadian Forces, or

    • (iii) the civilians involved are in Canada.

Authorization by Minister

Marginal note:Power

11 The Minister may authorize any person or class of persons to exercise or perform, subject to any restrictions or conditions that the Minister specifies, any of the powers, duties or functions of the Minister under this Part.

Airworthiness Investigative Authority

Marginal note:Airworthiness Investigative Authority

• 12 (1) The Minister shall designate from among the members of the Canadian Forces or the employees of the Department of National Defence an individual to be the Airworthiness Investigative Authority, who is to be responsible for advancing aviation safety by

  • (a) investigating military-civilian occurrences, in order to find their causes and contributing factors;

  • (b) identifying safety deficiencies as evidenced by military-civilian occurrences;

  • (c) making recommendations designed to eliminate or reduce any of those safety deficiencies; and

  • (d) providing reports to the Minister on the investigations and the findings in relation to them.

• Marginal note:Restriction

  (2) In making findings in an investigation of a military-civilian occurrence, it is not the Authority’s function to assign fault or determine civil or criminal liability, but the Authority shall not refrain from making a full report merely because fault or liability might be inferred from the Authority’s findings.

• Marginal note:Restriction

  (3) No finding of the Authority may be construed as assigning fault or determining civil or criminal liability.

• Marginal note:Findings not binding

  (4) The Authority’s findings are not binding on the parties to any legal, disciplinary or other proceedings.

Investigations of Military-Civilian Occurrences

Investigations

Marginal note:Investigators

• 13 (1) The Authority may act as an investigator under this Part with respect to a military-civilian occurrence, and may designate as an investigator to investigate such an occurrence in accordance with this Part on the Authority’s behalf any person, or member of a class of persons, that the Authority considers qualified.

• Marginal note:Certificate

  (2) The Authority shall give a designated investigator a certificate of designation specifying the terms of their designation.

• Marginal note:Report

  (3) A designated investigator shall report to the Authority with respect to the investigation of a military-civilian occurrence.

Marginal note:Definitions

• 14 (1) The following definitions apply in this section.

  information

  information includes a record regardless of its form and a copy of a record. (renseignement)

  place

  place includes an aircraft, any premises and any building or other structure erected on those premises. (lieu)

• Marginal note:Powers of investigators

  (2) If an investigator believes on reasonable grounds that there is or might be, at or in any place, any thing relevant to the investigation of a military-civilian occurrence, the investigator may, subject to subsection (3), enter and search that place for such a thing, and seize any such thing that is found in the course of that search, including an aircraft or part of one.

• Marginal note:Conditions for exercise of powers

  (3) An investigator shall not exercise the powers referred to in subsection (2) in relation to a particular place without the consent of the person apparently in charge of that place unless

  • (a) those powers are exercised under the authority of a warrant; or

  • (b) by reason of exigent circumstances, it would not be practical for the investigator to obtain a warrant.

• Marginal note:Warrant

  (4) If a justice of the peace is satisfied by information on oath that an investigator believes on reasonable grounds that there is or might be, at or in any place, any thing relevant to the investigation of a military-civilian occurrence, the justice may, on ex parte application, sign and issue a warrant authorizing the investigator to enter and search that place for such a thing and to seize any such thing that is found in the course of that search.

• Marginal note:Warrants may be obtained by telephone, etc.

  (5) The procedure set out in section 487.1 of the Criminal Code applies in relation to the obtaining of warrants under this section, subject to regulations made under paragraph 24.5(1)(g).

• Marginal note:Power to test things seized, etc.

  (6) If any thing is seized by an investigator under subsection (2), the investigator

  • (a) may, subject to paragraph (b), cause to be conducted on the thing any tests, including tests to destruction, that are necessary for the purposes of the investigation;

  • (b) shall, to the extent that it is practical and safe to do so without unreasonably impeding the progress of the investigation,

    • (i) take all reasonable measures to invite the owner of the thing, and any person who appears on reasonable grounds to be entitled to it, to be present at such tests, and

    • (ii) allow them to be present at those tests; and

  • (c) subject to the need to conduct such tests, shall cause the thing to be preserved pending its return under section 15.

• Marginal note:Power to prohibit or limit access

  (7) An investigator may, in the course of an investigation of a military-civilian occurrence, and for the purposes of preserving and protecting any thing involved or likely to have been involved, whether or not the thing has been seized under this section, prohibit or limit access to the area immediately surrounding the place at which the thing is located for any period that is necessary for the purposes of the investigation.

• Marginal note:Disruption to be minimized

  (8) In exercising the power conferred by subsection (7), an investigator shall have regard to the desirability of minimizing any resulting disruption to transportation services.

• Marginal note:Prohibition

  (9) No person shall knowingly enter an area in contravention of a prohibition or limitation of access under subsection (7).

• Marginal note:Additional powers of investigators

  (10) An investigator may do any of the following, on notice in writing to the person concerned, if their belief is based on reasonable grounds:

  • (a) if the investigator believes that a person has information relevant to an investigation,

    • (i) require the person to produce the information to the investigator or to attend before the investigator and give a statement referred to in section 24.1, under oath or solemn affirmation if required by the investigator, and

    • (ii) make any copies of and take any extracts from the information that the investigator considers necessary for the purposes of the investigation;

  • (b) require a person who is directly or indirectly involved in the operation of an aircraft to submit to a medical examination, if the investigator believes that the examination is or might be relevant to the investigation;

  • (c) require a physician or health practitioner to provide information concerning a patient to the investigator, if the investigator believes that the information is or might be relevant to the investigation; or

  • (d) require the person who has custody of the body of a deceased person or other human remains to permit the performance of an autopsy on the body or other medical examination on the remains, and cause it to be performed, if the investigator believes that the autopsy or other medical examination is or might be relevant to the investigation.

• Marginal note:Offence — paragraph (10)(a), (c) or (d)

  (11) No person shall refuse or fail to produce information to an investigator, or to attend before an investigator and give a statement, in accordance with a requirement imposed under paragraph (10)(a), to provide information in accordance with a requirement imposed under paragraph (10)(c) or to make the body of a deceased person or other human remains available for the performance of an autopsy or other medical examination in accordance with a requirement imposed under paragraph (10)(d).

• Marginal note:Offence — paragraph (10)(b)

  (12) No person shall refuse or fail to submit to a medical examination in accordance with a requirement imposed under paragraph (10)(b), but information obtained as a result of such an examination is privileged and, subject to the Authority’s power to make any use of it that the Authority considers necessary in the interests of aviation safety, no person shall knowingly communicate it or permit it to be communicated to any person.

• Marginal note:Legal proceedings

  (13) No person is to be required to produce information referred to in subsection (12) or to give evidence relating to it in any legal, disciplinary or other proceedings.

• Marginal note:Certificate to be produced

  (14) Before acting under this section, an investigator shall, on request, produce their certificate of designation to any person in relation to whom the investigator acts.

• Marginal note:Meaning of medical examination

  (15) The requirement under paragraph (10)(b) that a person submit to a medical examination does not require the person to submit to any procedure involving surgery, perforation of the skin or any external tissue or the entry into the body of any drug or foreign substance.

• Marginal note:Use of force

  (16) In executing a warrant under this section, an investigator shall not use force unless the investigator is accompanied by a peace officer and the use of force is specifically authorized in the warrant.

• Marginal note:Failure to produce document, etc.

  (17) If an investigator has required a person to do something under subsection (10) and the person has refused or failed to do as required, the investigator may make an application to the Federal Court or a superior court of a province setting out the facts, and the court may inquire into the matter and, after giving the person an opportunity to comply with the requirement, take steps for their punishment as if they had been guilty of contempt of the court, or may make any other order that it considers appropriate.

Marginal note:Return of seized property

• 15 (1) Anything seized under section 14 — except on-board recordings as defined in subsection 22(1) — shall, as soon as possible after it has served the purpose for which it was seized, be returned to the owner or the person who appears on reasonable grounds to be entitled to it, or to the person from whom it was seized, unless

  • (a) the owner or the person who appears on reasonable grounds to be entitled to it consents otherwise in writing; or

  • (b) a court of competent jurisdiction orders otherwise.

• Marginal note:Application for return

  (2) A person from whom anything was seized under section 14 — except on-board recordings as defined in subsection 22(1) — or the owner or any other person who appears on reasonable grounds to be entitled to it may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction for an order that the seized thing be returned to them.

• Marginal note:Order for return

  (3) If, on an application under subsection (2), the court is satisfied that the seized thing has served the purpose for which it was seized or should, in the interests of justice, be returned to the applicant, the court may grant the application and order the seized thing to be returned to the applicant, subject to any terms that appear necessary or desirable to ensure that the thing is safeguarded and preserved for any purpose for which it might subsequently be required by the Authority under this Act.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (4) This section does not apply in respect of anything seized and tested to destruction in accordance with subsection 14(6).