Robert Brisco, 46, and nine others were killed on January 17, 2004 when their Cessna plane plunged into the icy lake shortly after takeoff after an annual hunting trip at the island. Nov 18, 2019. (Photo courtesy of plaintiffs)Robert Brisco, 46, and nine others were killed on January 17, 2004 when their Cessna plane plunged into the icy lake shortly after takeoff after an annual hunting trip at the island. Nov 18, 2019. (Photo courtesy of plaintiffs)
Chatham

Head of Georgian Express grilled about lack of training

A lack of pilot training was under the spotlight on the 13th day of a civil trial looking into a plane crash just off Pelee Island.

The current president of Georgian Express was on the witness stand on Wednesday. Eric Edmondson was vice-president when the plane plunged into Lake Erie on January 17, 2004. He said the pilot in question, Wayne Price, was trained properly. Edmondson disagreed with Brisco family lawyer Jerry O'Brien that pilot training was a problem.

"The lack of training is not true," he told the court in Chatham.

Edmondson did admit there was an option of adding a second crew member to the flights but that never happened.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada investigated the crash and concluded Robert Brisco and nine others were killed because the plane was overweight and covered with ice when it crashed shortly after takeoff during an annual hunting trip on the island. A lack of training was also alleged in the report.

Robert’s brother, Paul, and the Brisco Estate are suing Georgian Express, Owen Sound Transportation, the Estate of pilot Wayne Price, and others for mental injury and suffering.

O'Brien told the court that pilots at Georgian Express were asking for more training. Edmondson responded by saying the pilots were already qualified to fly but admitted the training system needed improvement and he was working on that when the crash happened. O'Brien said he was given two training files on Price and that Price missed completing his ground school training.

Edmondson questioned why the pilot would take off in freezing rain.

"The pilot had the option not to fly," Edmondson told O'Brien.

Edmondson had an exchange about the pressure for pilots at Georgian Express to fly and told O'Brien the company "doesn't pressure pilots to fly." He added if anything, pilots pressure themselves to fly.

The Brisco family lawyer said that pilot Wayne Price told his father that he was uncomfortable at times to fly.

"Price called operations and was told to go," O'Brien told the court about what happened that ill-fated day.

O'Brien said Price had to turn back once before because the weather was bad and told operations "don't ever make me do that again."

Edmondson told the court there were de-icing cans available in Toronto and Price either forgot to take one or left it in Windsor before heading to Pelee Island. He said there are de-icing equipment and ladders available to all flights now but there was a heated exchange between O'Brien and Edmondson about liability concerns and getting ladders after the plane crashed.

O'Brien cited evidence that Edmondson told a colleague that getting a ladder at the time might hurt "our position down the road." Edmondson said there were questions about who supplies the safety equipment, the airport or the air carrier.

Price only worked for Georgian Express for a month before the crash and was a retired police officer.

The civil trial started on November 18, 2019 and is expected to wrap up on Friday with closing arguments and a decision by the jury shortly after.

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