Virgil P. Moshansky, CM, KC, LL.B. (born September 14, 1928) is a Canadian judge. Born in Lamont, Alberta, [1] he is a former Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta [2] and a former mayor of Vegreville, Alberta. [2]
On March 10, 1989, Air Ontario Flight 1363 crashed near Dryden, Ontario. Moshansky presided over the judicial inquiry. His report showed that competitive pressures caused by commercial deregulation cut into safety standards and that many of the industry's sloppy practices and questionable procedures placed the pilot in a very difficult situation, and the aircraft should not have been scheduled to refuel at an airport which did not have proper equipment and that neither training nor manuals had sufficiently warned the pilot of the dangers of ice on the wings of the Fokker F-28. [3]
For his role in the investigation, Moshansky was awarded the 1995 Transport Canada Aviation Safety Award during the 7th Annual Aviation Safety Seminar, held in Vancouver, British Columbia on April 25–26, 1995. [4]
On October 29, 2004, he was named a member of the Order of Canada. [5] He was invested as a member of the Order of Canada on June 10, 2005. [5]
On January 13, 2017, Virgil P. Moshansky joined Litco Law, Barristers and Solicitors, as counsel. Litco Law is based in Calgary, Alberta. [6]
WestJet Airlines, founded in 1994 and headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, is the second-largest airline in Canada. It began operations in 1996 with 220 employees, three aircraft, and five destinations. It was launched as a low-cost alternative to the country's major airlines. Today, WestJet operates scheduled, charter, and cargo air service, transporting more than 25 million passengers per year. The airline has a significant domestic and international network, which serves over 100 destinations across North America, Caribbean, Europe, Asia, and Central America. WestJet has an average of 777 flights per day, solidifying its position as the eighth-largest airline in North America by frequency.
Calgary International Airport, branded as YYC Calgary International Airport, is an international airport that serves the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is located approximately 17 kilometres (11 mi) northeast of downtown and covers an area of 20.82 square kilometres. With 18.5 million passengers in 2023 and 124,108 aircraft movements in 2021, Calgary International is the busiest airport in Alberta and the fourth-busiest in Canada by passenger traffic. This airport is served by the Calgary International Airport Emergency Response Service for aircraft rescue and firefighting protection. The region's petroleum and tourism industries have helped foster growth at the airport, which has nonstop flights to an array of destinations in North and Central America, Europe, and Asia. Calgary serves as the headquarters and primary hub for WestJet.
Edmonton International Airport, officially branded YEG Edmonton International Airport since 2022, is the primary air passenger and air cargo facility in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region of the Canadian province of Alberta. Designated as an international airport by Transport Canada and operated by Edmonton Airports, it is located 14 nautical miles south southwest of Downtown Edmonton in Leduc County on Highway 2 opposite of the city of Leduc. The airport offers scheduled non-stop flights to major cities in Canada, the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and Europe.
Air Georgian Limited was a privately owned charter airline based at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Between 2000 and 2020 its main business was its operation as Air Canada Express on a Tier III codeshare with Air Canada for scheduled services on domestic and trans-border routes. Starting in 2020 Air Georgian began focusing on air charters, before ceasing operations in May, after a sale of its assets to Pivot Airlines, a company run by the same executives.
Wardair Canada was a privately run Canadian airline, founded by Max Ward in 1952 under the name Wardair Ltd, before formally changing its name to "Wardair Canada" in 1976. The airline was acquired by and merged into Canadian Airlines in 1989.
Frank Iacobucci is a former Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada from 1991 until his retirement from the bench in 2004. He was the first Italian-Canadian, allophone judge on the court. Iacobucci was also the first judge on the Supreme Court to have been born, raised and educated in British Columbia. Iacobucci has had a distinguished career in private practice, academia, the civil service and the judiciary.
Trans-Canada Air Lines was a Canadian airline that operated as the country's flag carrier, with corporate headquarters in Montreal, Quebec. Its first president was Gordon Roy McGregor. Founded in 1937, it was renamed Air Canada in 1965.
John Charles Major is a Canadian jurist and was a puisne justice on the Supreme Court of Canada from 1992 to 2005.
Aerial firefighting, also known as waterbombing, is the use of aircraft and other aerial resources to combat wildfires. The types of aircraft used include fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. Smokejumpers and rappellers are also classified as aerial firefighters, delivered to the fire by parachute from a variety of fixed-wing aircraft, or rappelling from helicopters. Chemicals used to fight fires may include water, water enhancers such as foams and gels, and specially formulated fire retardants such as Phos-Chek.
Transport Canada is the department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of road, rail, marine and air transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities (TIC) portfolio. The current Minister of Transport is Pablo Rodriguez. Transport Canada is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario.
Lethbridge Airport, previously Lethbridge County Airport, is located 4 nautical miles south-southeast of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. It is 10–15 driving minutes from downtown Lethbridge, and has scheduled service to the city of Calgary, Alberta. The airport is classified as an airport of entry by Nav Canada and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) on a call-out basis from the Sweetgrass-Coutts Border Crossing. CBSA officers at this airport can handle general aviation aircraft only, with no more than 15 passengers. The airport hosts the biennial Lethbridge International Airshow.
Air Ontario Flight 1363 was a scheduled Air Ontario passenger flight which crashed near Dryden, Ontario, on 10 March 1989 shortly after takeoff from Dryden Regional Airport. The aircraft was a Fokker F28-1000 Fellowship twin jet. It crashed after only 49 seconds because it was not able to attain sufficient altitude to clear the trees beyond the end of the runway, due to ice and snow on the wings.
Morningstar Air Express Inc. is a cargo airline based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It operates a contract all-cargo service from Halifax to Vancouver for FedEx Express within Canada, as well as all-cargo charter services. Its main base is Edmonton International Airport.
The Trans-Canada Trophy, also known as the McKee Trophy, is awarded by the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute to a Canadian citizen who has made an outstanding, contemporary achievement in aerospace operations, whether a single act within the year prior to the award or a sustained level of performance over a period of several years. The award was founded in 1927 by James Dalzell McKee (1893–1927) and is the oldest aviation award in Canada.
Viking Air Ltd. is an operator and manufacturer of aircraft, as well as aircraft parts and systems, based at Victoria International Airport in North Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The company provides upgrades to the DHC-2 Beaver, spare parts for older de Havilland Canada aircraft, and components for Bell Helicopter Textron. The company is a subsidiary of De Havilland Canada.
On 11 February 1978, Pacific Western Airlines Flight 314, a Boeing 737-200, crashed at Cranbrook/Canadian Rockies International Airport, near Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada, killing 43 of the 49 people on board.
Dennis Kestell Yorath, MBE was an aviator and business executive who was a Member of the Order of the British Empire for his contributions to Canadian aviation and in particular the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan during World War II.
WestJet Encore is a Canadian regional airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta that operates feeder flights for WestJet, owned by the same parent company WestJet Airlines, Ltd. In response to internal market studies about future growth limitations by WestJet Airlines operating only Boeing 737 aircraft, WestJet Encore was formed in 2013 to allow the increased frequency of flights by using smaller aircraft and to expand service to routes with less traffic. Originally launching as a feeder airline for the mainline WestJet network out of WestJet hubs in Calgary and Toronto, the airline was refocused on Western Canada in 2021, with all service east of Thunder Bay cancelled and all aircraft either repositioned or stored.
The Honourable Karen Merle Weiler is a retired justice of the Court of Appeal for Ontario and the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada.
Thomas Joseph Walsh was a Canadian lawyer, practising in Calgary, Alberta. In addition to a busy legal practice, he was very active in his community and profession, including serving a term as national president of the Canadian Bar Association. His community involvement was recognised by his appointment to the Order of Canada and to the Alberta Order of Excellence.