Safety Precautions and Protocols


Canada Aviation Academy Incorporated (CAAI) considers safety as the top priority whether it is Air or Personal Safety.

CAAI has developed safety precautions as recommended by Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to minimize exposure and reduce the risk of transmission of Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) / COVID-19 disease.

Flight Training Units (FTUs) and Aviation Industry as whole is unique as they require close contact between Pilots, Instructor and Student, when in the cockpit of an aircraft or in the classroom. These safety precautions are in place to minimize the risk of contamination ensuring that both staff and students are healthy before entering the cockpit together.

General – Health and Safety

  • Maximum of 15 people will be allowed in the CAAI campus area at any given time.
  • All visitors to the campus are strictly by appointment only, no walk-in visitors are allowed until further notice.
  • Visitors will be educated on our COVID-19 precautions and will be required to sign a Self-Declaration form.
  • Regular communication with staff members and students regarding these safety precautions.
  • Notices have been posted around the campus educating students on the symptoms of COVID-19 and what to watch out for.
  • Safety Precautions will be reviewed and updated as required at the Health and Safety meetings.

Screening procedures in place for anyone entering the CAAI campus

The following questions will be asked:

  • Have you exhibited any symptoms of COVID-19, such as coughing, fever or difficulty in breathing?
  • Have you or your family member travelled outside B.C within the last 14 days?
  • Have you been in close contact with any person who has been diagnosed with COVID-19?
  • Are you feeling fatigued, have loss of taste or have diarrhea?
  • Have you self-isolated for 14 days or more and have remained healthy?

Protocols in place are as follows:

  • On resuming flight training or ground training, staff members and students will be required to fill and sign the Self Declaration forms and thereafter to be re-signed every week.
  • All visitors to sign the visitor log with their name and telephone number and fill-in the Self Declaration form.
  • Upon entering the campus everyone must wash their hands with soap and water or sanitize with Alcohol-based sanitizers (available at the entrance and at various locations in the campus).
  • Online or in-class ground school will be offered depending on size of classes.
  • Implementing stringent cleaning and sanitation protocols for public areas (Done by the University of the Fraser Valley Staff).
  • Mandatory aircraft disinfection before each flight.
  • Enforcing wearing of face shields and/or face masks* inside the campus.
  • Enforcing wearing of face shields and/or face masks and gloves on the aircraft while flight training.
  • Enforcing the physical distancing across campus.
                        
*Non-medical Face Masks and Disposable Gloves are provided on campus

Respiratory Hygiene

Staff members and students shall maintain respiratory hygiene by following the steps listed below:

  • Cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing
  • Cough into a clean tissue, not into your hands
  • If you do not have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your elbow
  • Use disposable tissues and discard in the nearest waste container immediately after use
  • Sit or stand at least 6 feet from each other
  • Not sharing personal items such as pens, pencil, books etc.
  • Spitting is strictly prohibited.
  • Students and instructors are required to wear all required Personal Protection Equipment(PPE) during flight training.

Hand Hygiene

Hand hygiene practices are an important practice in reducing the spread of infection therefore all staff members, students and visitors are required to wash their hands in these circumstances:

  • Immediately upon entering the building
  • Before and after every flight or physical interaction with the aircraft (e.g. pre-flight inspections)
  • Before touching your face, eyes, mouth, ears, or nose
  • After using the restroom
  • After coughing, blowing the nose, or sneezing
  • After any contact with clients and or visitors
  • After handling waste
  • When hands are visibly soiled
  • Before and after putting on gloves (When removing gloves, they are to be pulled off hand by turning them inside out and then immediately disposing off.)
  • Before leaving the building
  • When in doubt about the cleanliness of the surface being contacted.

Standard Hand Washing Procedures

All staff members, students and visitors are required to wash their hands, periodically throughout the course of their day, as indicated above. Procedures for handwashing are as follows:

  • Wet your hands (water on all the wash basins are turned on by pressing the bar with a foot)
  • Apply soap and work up a good lather for a minimum of 20 seconds covering the entire hand, top, bottom, between and around the fingertips and thumb
  • Rinse thoroughly under running water
  • Dry hands with paper towel only.
  • Discard the paper towel into the appropriate container

Alcohol-based sanitizer

When hands are not visibly soiled, and/or there is no immediate access to soap and water, an alcohol-based sanitizer (with an alcohol content of 60%-90%) may be used.

Procedures for using an alcohol-based sanitizer are as follows:
  • Put the sanitizer on hands and rub together to cover all surfaces of the hand, top, bottom, in between and around the fingertips and thumb, and rub vigorously for approximately 20 seconds.
  • Allow the hand sanitizer to dry.
  • If hands are visibly soiled, wash hands by following the standard hand washing procedures before applying alcohol-based sanitizer.

Facility

  • Facility is being cleaned and sanitized by the UFV Staff – Furniture, door handles, computers and all other regularly touched surfaces are wiped down with a disinfectant regularly throughout the day and a disinfecting fogger is also being used to sanitize each room in its entirety. Bathrooms are cleaned and sanitized every day.
  • Hand and respiratory hygiene signage posted around building
  • Visible markers may be placed on the floor, where necessary, to promote the required physical distance of 2 meters.
  • Chairs and tables may be re-organized, where necessary, as per 5sq. ft. area allocation for each student.(Do not move furniture in any room without the permission of the President or Chief Flight Instructor.)
  • To maintain the required physical distance of 2 meters, instructors are required to continue to work remotely where possible, this may include ground school classes being delivered online.

UFV Cleaning Protocols:

Training and Flight Operations

  • The instructors and students will be briefed as to our COVID-19 precautions and sign a Self-Declaration form.
  • Staggered flight times will be scheduled to avoid groups of student congregating at the campus at the flight changeover time.
  • The instructors and students will agree in writing to limit travel between school and home as best as possible, avoid contact with anyone who has been exposed to COVID-19 or who has displayed symptoms, and by adhering to these safety precautions and protocols.

Aircraft Hygiene and Maintenance

High Touched Surfaces that Required Frequent Cleaning

Instructors and students shall maintain hygiene in the aircraft by disinfecting all surfaces listed below before every flight:

  • Door handles
  • Seats including seat belt fasteners
  • Flight Controls
  • Ancillary controls
  • Avionic controls
  • Inside of cockpit windows
  • Headset (if not own)
  • Purchase and use of their own headset will be encouraged for students.
  • In case there are fewer than one headset per student, personal microphone sponges are issued to each student so that they can clean the available headset each time they fly.
  • Microphones to be wiped with disinfectant by each student before their own washable microphone sponge is applied.

Procedures

  • Disinfectant wipes will be made available for students each time they begin a lesson in the aircraft or simulator. Students will wipe down all instruments, handles and headsets that could be touched by the previous student.
  • Simulators will be considered the same as aircraft and the same protective and hygiene protocols will apply
  • All staff members and students must receive training prior to cleaning the aircraft.
  • Training will be provided by the CFI and/or designated Flight Instructor.
  • The flight controls, door latches, ancillary controls, and seatbelts must be cleaned at the beginning and end of each flight.
  • Take a disinfectant wipe supplied by the company.
  • Remove cleaning waste from the aircraft.
  • Aircraft windows must be cleaned with regular supplied window cleaner or water only as directed.
  • The use of isopropyl alcohol spray cleaner or any other cleaner is strictly prohibited on any window located on the aircraft.
  • Aircraft seats and upholstery will be disinfected using either Isopropyl Alcohol or approved seat/ upholstery wipes when new crew is assigned an aircraft.
  • PPE will be worn at all times in the aircraft. The mask must cover the nose and the mouth.
  • Face mask and/or gloves will be worn for all cleaning procedures and must be disposed of after use.
  • After each flight the windows are to be left open to promote air circulation. In the event the wind is above15 knots, the windows must be closed.
  • Instructors and students to wash their hands before and after each flight.
  • Gloves to be worn when fueling or putting oil in the aircraft.
  • Aircraft Engineers must sanitize the aircraft once complete with maintenance

CAAI will enforce protocols and monitor their staff and students for any of the COVID-19 symptoms. Students will self-monitor and self-isolate immediately should they exhibit any symptoms.

In these difficult COVID-19 times, it is everyone’s responsibility to help minimize health risks. We require that every person does their part by following these guidelines to best protect the health of all our staff, students and visitors.