An Air Canada Jazz crew reported a close encounter with a drone while descending through 7,000 feet inbound to Vancouver’s airport (YVR) from Saskatoon last Tuesday. Although no evasive action was needed to avoid the drone, it was still much too close for comfort. At 7,000 feet, the drone would have been well above its 300-foot height restriction. The RCMP, notified of the close call, is appealing for information from the public.

This incident follows on another close call reported by Westjet two months ago. The aircraft’s pilots reported seeing a drone below and off to the left of the Boeing 737 while it was flying near Edmonton’s airport (YEG) at an altitude of 4,000 feet.

For more information on operating a drone in Canada, click here.

In a press release issued earlier this week, the FAA says they have signed a Shared Surveillance Management Plan with TCCA. This cooperative agreement is designed to ensure manufacturers, certificate holders, production approval holders and suppliers are in compliance with each respective country’s regulatory requirements.

Manufacturers will be required to comply with a quality system that has been previously approved, while also ensuring that their suppliers and sub-contractors also meet the same standards and applicable requirements.

This agreement will result in less need for TCCA and FAA inspectors to cross the border to inspect each other’s facilities.

The complete FAA press release can be found here.

Construction should start soon on a new east/west runway at Manitoulin East airport (YEM). The airport, run jointly by the municipalities of Northeast Town and Assiginack, is located 16 km southeast of Little Current, Ontario on Manitoulin Island.

The airport presently has a 3,500-foot asphalt runway running north/south, but is not always usable for ultralight and small, light aircraft. Says airport manager George Dobbs, “It’s a safety factor. We have a history of very strong crosswinds here.”

The new runway will initially be prepared with gravel and turf and is expected to be ready by 2019 or 2020. Dobbs is optimistic it will eventually be paved.

Upper Valley Aviation (UVA) founder Ken Smith has officially entered the contest for a position on council in Chilliwack’s October civic election. UVA is a long-time tenant at Chilliwack airport (YCW), located 80 kms east of Vancouver in B.C.’s Fraser Valley. The airport has been in the news in recent years as the scene of difficulties between tenants and the private management company, Magnum Management, who holds the head lease. The then owners of the Chilliwack Airport Coffee Shop, originators of the iconic ‘I Fly For Pie’ logo due to their wildly popular fruit pies, reopened in nearby Langley airport (YLY) after being unable to come to terms with Magnum. That alienated much of the local and regional GA community.

After recently announcing his candidature, Smith says he’s always been “a passionate person with strong opinions.” Quoted in local media, Smith goes on to say that he’s concerned about Public Private Partnerships (PPP) that have been a “detriment of the city.” He goes on to say that Chilliwack’s municipal leadership has become “stagnant and resistant to change.”

A Chilliwack native and pilot, Smith founded his company in 1982, specializing in parts sales, aircraft sales, salvage and storage. The early 1990s saw his company expand into aircraft maintenance and painting service and, in 2002, avionics, interior and structural services were added.