Vancouver Airport CEO discusses Taser victim's final hours

A man who died after being shotwith a Taserat Vancouver airport last month spent more than six hours in a secure area controlled by the Canada Border Services Agency before he was granted landed immigrant status.

Larry Berg, president and CEO of the Vancouver Airport Authority, spoke publicly for the first time Friday about thedeath of 40-year-old Robert Dziekanski.

Berg told CBC Radio thatthe Polish immigrant arrived at the airport on a flight from Europe around 4 p.m. PT on Oct. 13, and cleared the passport check shortly after.

Hesaid it is still unclear why Dziekanski waited 6½ hours in a secure area controlled by the Canada Border Services Agency near the luggage carousel before proceeding to the second stage of immigration.

The CBSA declined to comment, citing an ongoing investigation of the case.

Ataround 10:30 p.m., Dziekanskimoved on and presented himself at the secondary customs check, wherehe was granted landed immigrant status at 12:30 a.m.,Berg said.

Dziekanski then "went out into the public area, where the ultimate tragedy occurred," he said.

Witnesses have told CBC News that Dziekanski appeared confused and agitated when they saw himat 1 a.m.

Police arrived shortly after andhave said they shot him twice with a Taser. He died minutes later. The cause of death has yet to be determined.

Berg said at no time did anyone employed by the Airport Authority have any contact with Dziekanski.

Customs area under CBSA control

The customs area, controlled by the border services agency, can have 15,000 people pass through in a single day and Berg said he could understand how a person could be overlooked by CBSA personnel for several hours.

The areais not under the direct control of the Airport Authority or its security personnel, said Berg, and both the entrance and exit are controlled by CBSA.

"We deliberately stay out of that area," said Berg.

Berg said 14 security cameras monitor the area, and the footage from those cameras has been turned over to investigators.

The CEO of the Airport Authority also responded to concerns raised about the public address system at the airport.

Dziekanski's mother, Zofia Cisowski, has told CBC News that airportpersonnel offered her no assistance, despite repeated requests to help her make contact withher son while she waited for several hours in thearrivals area.

"The rulebetween the Airport Authority and the Canada Border Services Agency is that we do not communicate in there directly with passengers,"saidBerg.

"It would only be under emergency conditions that we would communicate in any sort of public address system,"he added.

He said Cisowskiwas directed by airport personnel to the CBSA offices,where she was told theythey had no information on Dziekanski's whereabouts, despite the fact that he had cleared the primary passport check at customs shortly after his arrival.

The airport authority does not have access to flight manifests,Berg said, andtherefore cannot confirm who has arrived or who is inthe customs area.

Berg also said the airporthasinterpretive services in the arrival area, but they primarilyhandle French, German and Asian languages. Dziekanski only spoke Polish, his mother has said.

CBSA has its own translation service in the customs area, Berg said, and those were used to help Dziekanski process his immigration application.

When asked why it has taken the Airport Authority three weeks to respond to media requests for details of Dziekanski's final hours, Berg said his primary concern has been co-operating with the police and coroner's office, who are conducting investigations into Dziekanski's death.

He said the airport is conducting its own internal review to determinewhat"fundamental underlying conditions"may have contributed to the tragedy.

The lawyer hired by Dziekanski's mother, Walter Kosteckyj, said Berg's account of the events that night has some omissions.

Dziekanski was unable to claim his luggage after clearing the initial CBSA passportcheck, Kosteckyj said, because it was being held for him by the airline in another area.