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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider New back-up system for PH air traffic management needed, DOTr tells PBBM

New back-up system for PH air traffic management needed, DOTr tells PBBM

Published Jan 3, 2023 02:25 pm

Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Jaime Bautista has recommended to President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. the installation of another back-up system for the air traffic management system of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).

Bautista said he mentioned the proposal when he called up the President on Sunday afternoon that the technical glitch at the CAAP-run air traffic management was already fixed and that the operation at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) already returned to normal operations.

"I mentioned to the President that we really need a back-up system that will be put up in a different location," said Bautista.

The CAAP-run Air Traffic Management Center (ATMC) is currently depending on two major power sources-- the commercial power source provided by the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) and the standby generator that could run the entire system 24/7 even without the power from the commercial source.

On Sunday, Jan. 1, power outage hit the ATMC which downed all its communication platform when both the power supply from Meralco and the back-up generator wouuld not come in at 9:49 p.m.

During the troubleshooting, there was a recorded power surge-- the system was receiving 380 volts instead of the ideal 220 volts-- that eventually damaged the equipment at the ATMC.

Around 65,000 passengers from almost 300 flights were affected as flights had to be diverted, cancelled and delayed.

The system was partially restored at 4 p.m. on Sunday and at 7:45 p.m. of the same day, the operation returned to normal.

Bautista stressed the need to come up with another back-up system for worse case scenario in order to prevent the repeat of the incident that paralyzed the operation at the NAIA on Jan. 1, a peak time since thousands of people were on their way back home or on their way to return to work and schools.

He stressed that the back-up system should really be installed in a different location.

"We will conduct a feasibility study and present this to NEDA (National Economic Development Authority)," said Bautista.

"This is an important system and the Philippine aviation sector must have this," he added.

CAAP Director General Manuel Tamayo earlier said that there is a need to modernize the ATMC, saying the current system is already outdated.

While the Communications, Navigation and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management CNS/ATM was inaugurated in 2018 and currently being used by the CAAP, it was actually introduced to the aviation sector in 2010.

Tamayo said it was only in 2018 that the CNS-ATM system was completed for CAAP.

Related Tags

air traffic management CNS/ATM PBBM NAIA CAAP DOTr Jaime Bautista
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