CAAP Director General Manuel Antonio Tamayo attends an inquiry conducted by the Senate Committee on Public Services on Jan. 12, 2023, on the New Year’s Day air traffic management system breakdown. (File photo from the Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)
MANILA, Philippines — Two top officials of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) will inhibit themselves from the investigation of the New Year’s Day air traffic system breakdown that affected over 60,000 passengers, Transportation Undersecretary Roberto Lim said on Wednesday.
They are CAAP Director General Manuel Tamayo and chief engineer Arnold Balucating, who is in charge of the Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance Systems for Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM)— which malfunctioned on New Year’s Day
“Insofar as the CAAP is concerned, Your Honor, we have recommended that the head of the CNS/ATM, Mr. Arnold Balucating, take a leave of absence, and he has done so already,” Lim said during the continuation of the House Committee on Transportation hearing on the incident.
Tamayo also said during a separate interpellation by a lawmaker that he would not be part of the investigating body.
Before the hearing, several lawmakers urged key CAAP officials to refrain from being part of the investigations.
In a radio interview on Sunday, Sen. Grace Poe asked Tamayo to inhibit himself and those under him from the ongoing investigation to ensure an impartial investigation.
Last Jan. 4, Northern Samar Rep. Paul Daza also said that CAAP should not focus on its commercial role and that an independent body should take charge of the investigation.
Earlier, CAAP also said that an external investigating body has been organized composed of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), the Cyber Investigation Crime Commission (CICC), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA).
All of them are coordinating with the Department of Transportation.
“So far the actions that have been taken by this committee: DICT, CICC, NBI, and NICA have visited the site. They’ve inspected the relevant parts of the facility. They have interviewed people, testimonies from people directly involved in operating, and manning, and supervising the CNS/ATM. They are also conducting a vulnerability test not only on the equipment but on the network and on the system,” Tamayo said.
He noted, however, that there were still no conclusive findings because it might take a few more weeks before the committee can provide a report outlining its findings and recommendations about the incident.
On New Year’s Day, all flights arriving or departing from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) and other key airports were stopped after the main and backup power supplies of the CNS/ATM malfunctioned.
CAAP tried to override the system by connecting it to an automatic voltage regulator (AVR). But instead of getting the recommended 220 volts, the system operated on 380 volts — forcing a shutdown.
The power surge — or overvoltage — damaged some key components, like satellite dishes used by traffic managers to communicate with airplanes.
As a result, at least 350 flights have been either delayed, canceled, or diverted to other regional airports and ports abroad. This affected over 66,000 passengers leaving or arriving at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), the country’s primary international gateway, and other main airports.