Clark airport operations limited until Friday; navigational guide being fixed

Operations at the Clark International Airport (CRK) will remain limited until Friday, with one of its navigational guiding systems still undergoing repair from a lightning strike on Monday.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) has issued an advisory that will limit operations at the CRK while its Doppler Very High Frequency Omni-Range (DVOR) remains down.

According to CAAP spokesperson Eric Apolonio, the DVOR is a short-range radio navigation system that helps and guides pilots to land safely on the runway during bad weather and low visibility.

Apolonio said that a notice to airmen (Notam), closing flight operations for safety reasons, was immediately issued at around Monday 8 p.m. after a transmitter of the DVOR was struck by lightning.

He said that when the navigational aid broke down on Monday, four commercial flights were affected in different ways. Some of the flights from Singapore were diverted to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminals while others from Seoul, South Korea, had to be rescheduled.

Under the Notam, flight operations at the CRK will be limited from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. or from sunrise to sunset until Friday when the DVOR is expected to be restored.