11.4 Incidents, Accidents & Reporting

11.4 Incidents, Accidents & Reporting

Quick Answer: Under CAR 901.49, treat RPAS accidents and incidents with the associated safety and reporting measures. Notify Transport Canada when required; use TC AIM-GEN for Transportation Safety Board (TSB) thresholds and report to the TSB when those thresholds are met. Preserve evidence, keep 901.48 records, obey 901.50 on dropping objects, complete post-flight data and safety actions, and build an honest reporting culture—especially in Advanced commercial operations.

Knowing how to fly is only half of professional competence. Knowing what to do after something goes wrong—or after something almost goes wrong—is a TP 15263 and flight-review expectation. Advanced commercial operators who suppress reports create repeat accidents and regulatory risk.

Accidents vs incidents (working definitions)

Exact legal wording lives in the CARs and related definitions, but exam-ready concepts are:

You do not need to litigate definitions on the ramp—when in doubt, document, preserve, and check current TC/TSB reporting criteria rather than hoping silence is compliance.

CAR 901.49 — Incidents, accidents, and associated measures

CAR 901.49 is the Part IX anchor for accidents and incidents involving RPAS and the measures that follow. Teaching expectations for Advanced pilots:

1. Recognize that certain events are reportable—not optional diary entries.
2. Take immediate safety measures: secure the scene, prevent secondary injury/fire, render aid, keep people clear of damaged LiPo batteries and sharp props.
3. Notify the appropriate authorities within required timelines (TC; TSB when applicable; police/emergency services as needed).
4. Cooperate with investigations; do not invent facts to protect a contract.
5. Implement corrective actions before returning similar operations to service (maintenance, procedures, training).

Associated measures are both operational (scene safety) and administrative (reports, records, grounding).

When to notify Transport Canada

Notify Transport Canada for RPAS occurrences that meet the reporting requirements tied to Part IX / 901.49 practice. Typical teaching categories (always verify current guidance for your case) include:

• Accidents with injury or significant damage
• Flyaways and serious losses of control creating aviation or public hazard
• Airspace infringements and conflicts with crewed aircraft
• Operations that caused or nearly caused harm to uninvolved people
• Other reportable incidents defined for RPAS operators

How: use the channels Transport Canada publishes for RPAS occurrence reporting (portal/regional contacts as applicable). Include who, what, when, where, aircraft identity/registration, pilot certificate info, weather, phase of flight, injuries/damage, and airspace status.

Exam trap: “Only report if a police officer asks.” TC reporting duties are independent of whether local police attend.

TSB reporting thresholds (refer TC AIM-GEN)

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) investigates selected transportation occurrences in the public interest. RPAS events can meet TSB reporting criteria depending on severity and circumstances.

Study rule for Advanced candidates:

• Know that TSB reporting exists and is not the same list as every company incident log.
• Use TC AIM-GEN (Aeronautical Information Manual — General) and current TSB guidance as the reference for what must be reported to the TSB and how quickly.
• When thresholds are met, report to the TSB in addition to any Transport Canada and emergency-service notifications—not instead of scene safety.

You will not memorize every AIM-GEN paragraph for the written exam, but you will be expected to know that serious occurrences can require TSB notification and that AIM-GEN is the place professionals look for threshold detail.

Preserve evidence

After a serious occurrence:

Evidence preservation supports TC/TSB processes and your own safety management. Except for life safety and fire prevention, leave critical evidence undisturbed until it is documented.

Records — CAR 901.48

CAR 901.48 requires applicable records for the RPAS and its operation/maintenance. After incidents, records are not bureaucracy—they are the timeline investigators and your future self need:

• Flight logs (crew, site, times, aircraft identity)
• Technical logs (defects, maintenance, firmware)
• Authorization and declaration status for that flight
• Training/recency proof for the PIC
• Occurrence reports and corrective-action closeout

Missing records after an accident is a compliance failure stacked on a safety failure.

Dropping objects — CAR 901.50

CAR 901.50 addresses dropping of objects from an RPAS. Teaching points:

• You may not drop objects in a manner that creates a hazard to people or property.
• “Payload delivery” and “dropping” are not automatic Advanced privileges—hazard assessment and rule compliance come first (and may require special authority depending on the activity).
• Accidental shedding of parts (prop, battery, camera) is an occurrence to manage, not a shrug.
• Planned agricultural or industrial drops need the correct legal framework; do not improvise from a multirotor over a street.

If a scenario involves releasing objects over people without proper controls, the correct answer is prohibited / unsafe / non-compliant, not “Advanced allows it.”

Post-flight actions (normal and abnormal)

After every flight

1. Safe landing and motors disabled; prop area clear
2. Battery handling (temperature, damage inspection)
3. Data download — logs, imagery, telemetry as required by the job and SMS
4. Quick defect check; open technical-log entries for anything abnormal
5. Site restoration (perimeter equipment, waste, client handover)

After an emergency, incident, or hard landing

1. People first — injuries, fire, traffic control
2. Make the scene safe (LiPo fire awareness, electrical hazards)
3. Notify emergency services / ATC / TC / TSB as applicable
4. Preserve evidence and collect facts while fresh
5. Ground the aircraft and related fleet if a systemic issue is suspected
6. Write the occurrence report; start corrective actions (training, maintenance, procedure change)
7. Do not resume the same risk profile until causes are addressed

Honest reporting culture for Advanced commercial ops

Commercial pressure (“we will lose the client”) pushes some teams to hide flyaways, near mid-airs, or property damage. That culture is incompatible with Advanced operations:

• Hidden events prevent hazard learning across the company.
• Insurers and clients eventually discover patterns; trust collapses.
• Regulators treat cover-ups more harshly than honest, timely reports with corrective action.
• Flight reviewers and professional standards expect you to know reporting duties even when nothing fails on review day.

Build simple internal rules: any loss of control, any crewed-aircraft conflict, any injury, any flyaway, any flight outside authorized airspace conditions → internal report within hours, regulatory report when required, no retaliation for good-faith reporting.

Exam scenario patterns

Closing the emergencies chapter

Chapter 11 tied planning (site survey, performance, contamination, winter) to contingency (lost link, flyaway) to accountability (901.49, TSB, records). Advanced pilots are measured not only by smooth mapping grids but by what they do when the grid falls apart.

Bottom line: Know 901.49 measures, notify TC and TSB (via AIM-GEN thresholds) when required, preserve evidence, keep 901.48 records, never casual-drop objects under 901.50, finish with data and corrective action, and make honesty the default commercial culture.