Air Canada ordered to fix hundreds of baggage trucks after fatality

Air Canada has been ordered to fix hundreds of baggage handling trucks at airports across the country following the death of an airline employee in Toronto this spring.  

Baggage handler Ian Henrey Pervez, 24, was killed April 22 at Pearson Airport when the enclosed truck he was driving flipped over and ejected him onto the tarmac.

Investigators have still not declared what they believe caused the crash. Labour Canada has given the airline until Nov. 15 to complete the safety upgrades.

• Man dies in luggage truck rollover
• Family remembers worker's 'humble spirit'

However, CBC News has obtained an internal Air Canada bulletin to staff dated April 30, one week after the accident, which confirms the vehicle involved was found to have had "mechanical failures" and has been "quarantined."

A second memo reveals that federal labour investigators in early May also directed the airline to install seatbelts on all "ramp and baggage tractors, belt loaders and other motorized material handling equipment."  Air Canada told CBC News the order affects 950 of the airline's 2,200 ground vehicles across the country which were not manufactured with seatbelts.

• Air Canada memo citing mechanical failures
• Air Canada memo citing seatbelt order

Family wants answers

The dead man's father says he was unaware of the internal Air Canada memos and says he has been provided very little information about what caused his son's death.

"We don't know anything. Nobody contacted us," Pervez Pervez told CBC News this week.

He says he remains in mourning for his eldest son, whose paycheque helped support their family of three other siblings and parents who immigrated to Canada in 2007 from Karachi, Pakistan.

"Nobody told the whole story," Pervez said.  "I am thinking maybe somebody contact me very soon, but I am still waiting."

The agency leading the federal workplace investigation, Employment and Social Development Canada, would not discuss its findings.

Nor would ESDC discuss the "directions" issued to Air Canada. In a statement, an ESDC media spokesperson told CBC News those safety instructions to the airline, and the final investigators' report will only be  accessible to the public through a formal Access To Information request.

The Pervez family says they are grateful for help from Air Canada, which paid the airfare to fly relatives from Pakistan to Canada to attend the funeral. The family also says they have received a payment of about $4,000 from their son's union. 

But the pastor at their church, Peter Paul, says the family deserves much greater compensation for their loss and the family is considering hiring a lawyer.

"I mean they have lost a son. Full of life. Who was actually a helping hand … an older son who was helping the family," the pastor said.

"We just wanted to find out what happened, and how it happened, why it happened. We just are waiting for their report. The family should be contacted and … we just want communication," the pastor said.

Employees donate thousands of dollars

Workers at several airports across Canada observed a national day of mourning April 28 to commemorate those injured or killed on the job, holding special vigils marking the death of Pervez just days earlier.

Airport workers in Toronto, Montreal, Halifax and St. John's collected approximately $6,000 in donations for the man's grieving family.

Air Canada told CBC News in an e-mailed statement that "Ian's death was very unsettling for all of his colleagues at Air Canada. We have an excellent safety record and we constantly reinforce the importance of working safely so that we all return to our loved ones at the end of the working day."

• Read Air Canada's complete statement

Airline spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick declined a request for an interview, citing ongoing investigations including an internal company review.

However, he says Air Canada has been actively trying to help the Pervez family, which he says "has been exceedingly gracious and repeatedly thanked us for our assistance."

"Immediately after the incident, senior executives undertook to directly support Ian's family and we have had many interactions since then," Fitzpatrick wrote in an email.

"This includes meeting or exceeding any legal obligations, and we will continue to assist the family in dealing with estate issues, but the terms of compensation are private information for the family and estate. Our support included assisting family members flying to Toronto from Pakistan and intervening where possible with authorities to alleviate administrative burdens (such as obtaining visas) that arise in such situations."

The company also says that immediately after the fatal accident it conducted inspections of all 2,200 of its baggage handling vehicles nationwide.

"There were no unusual findings," Fitzpatrick said, acknowledging an unspecified number of vehicles were found to have issues such as broken tail lights.

Air Canada says the federal order to install seatbelts applies to 950 older model baggage tractors that were never equipped with the safety harnesses.  Air Canada is retrofitting those vehicles, with some 630 still awaiting a fix.

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