Rep. Florida Robes speaks at the awarding ceremony at the House of Representatives. (FILE PHOTO / Rep. Robes’ office)
MANILA, Philippines — The investigation that would be initiated by a House of Representatives panel regarding the flight interruptions on New Year’s Day would focus on how the air traffic management system of the country was maintained, a lawmaker said on Thursday.
In a statement, San Jose del Monte Rep. Rida Robes said that her panel, the House Committee on good government and public accountability, would like to know how the Communications, Navigation and Surveillance Systems for Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) malfunctioned despite it being inaugurated only in 2018.
The CNS/ATM which is operated by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) basically allows air traffic managers to direct flow all over the country, or the Manila flight information region. When this malfunctioned, managers were in the blind regarding the amount of flights that enter and exit the country — making it also a safety risk.
“The new CNS/ATM works by sending satellite signals to aircraft transponders and by using transponder transmissions to determine the precise location of aircrafts in our airspace and its shutdown posed serious threats to aviation safety, economic losses to tourism and the aviation industry, and leaving thousands of inbound and outbound flight passengers stranded,” Robes said.
“The house resolution will focus as well on maintenance of the new CNS/ATM system, as well as presence or absence of a back-up or contingency plan,” she added.
Robes, one of the over 66,000 inbound and outbound passengers affected by the CNS/ATM malfunction, vowed on Wednesday that a probe on the incident would be initiated.
READ: Air traffic system glitch diverts all flights in Manila
It was initially believed that the flight glitches were caused by a power outage. However, in a late night briefing on the same day, both Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista and CAAP Director General (ret.) Capt. Manuel Tamayo clarified that commercial power supply was available.
Instead, it was the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) of both the CNS/ATM’s main power source and the backup source that went down. Tamayo said that they received a signal that the cooling blower of the UPS conked, which should have switched the power source to the backup — which did not happen.
The CAAP head said they tried to override the power supply by installing an automatic voltage regulator, but instead of getting the recommended 220 volts, the system operated on 380 volts — forcing a shutdown. The overvoltage however left some damage on key components, like satellite dishes.
READ: UPS failure caused glitch at CAAP’s Air Traffic Management Center, says DOTr
But Robes is not satisfied with the answer, saying that such incidents affect the economy in a myriad of ways.
“It has an impact on investor confidence. There should be foresight in predicting situations such as the power outage. The resolution is not limited to the UPS or uninterruptible power supply,” she said.
To address the problem, Robes vowed to explore the possibility of also opting for a newer system, as the technology that was rolled out in 2018 was actually an old system already.
“With the funding implementation and proper maintenance of the new CNS/ATM system, regular audit and assessment of its capability, the shutdown could have been prevented avoiding substantial risks to national security, inconvenience to passengers and substantial loss to the tourism and aviation industry,” she concluded.