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Friday, March 29, 2024

Transportation chief may ask some CAAP officials to go on leave

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Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista on Tuesday said he may ask some officials of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to go on leave as the government investigates the New Year’s Day air traffic fiasco that closed Philippine airspace for hours and grounded more than 300 flights.

During a hearing before the House committee on transportation, Bautista said his department would lead an investigation into the power outage and technical glitch that caused chaos at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on Jan. 1.

“We are doing a fact-finding [probe]… getting all the documents. The investigation is continuing, and we will be considering asking those people involved to take a leave of absence,” Bautista said during the hearing.

Bautista made the statement in response to the remarks of Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez who sought accountability over the seven-hour NAIA glitch.

Rodriguez said the incident calls for leave for absence for those responsible especially while the probe is ongoing.

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“This [call for leave of absence] is because we have to preserve the evidence in the investigation and allow an in-depth probe,” the lawmaker said.

“It is what the Filipino nation would want because what happened was a result of gross negligence and incompetence,” he added.

The CAAP earlier said the incident was caused by a problem in the system’s electrical network, with its uninterruptible power supply (UPS), which is to be used as backup power supply, also failing.

The glitch caused 282 flights to be canceled or delayed, affecting 56,000 passengers on the first day.

Bautista assured lawmakers that the DOTr would come up with permanent solutions to the recurring transport problems, especially those affecting the country’s air traffic navigation system.

Bautista also apologized to the thousands of passengers affected by the airport shutdown.

Bautista said that 90 percent of the operations at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) had been restored within 24 hours of the incident.

He added that an intra-agency investigation is being conducted on the source of the air traffic navigation system glitch.

Bautista welcomed the opportunity to highlight the critical need for technical and financial support for upgrading the facilities at the CAAP, the NAIA and regional airports throughout the country.

Bautista earlier said the agency is proposing to procure A new Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) System to avoid a similar situation from arising

He said over P13 billion will be needed to upgrade the system that caused the recent technical issues at NAIA.

Bautista also vowed to address “pain points” affecting airline passengers, including inefficient ticket booking, airport congestion, long lines, immigration issues, baggage system problems, and transportation around the airport.

Bulacan Rep. Salvador Pleyto asked the CAAP to improve their risk management in accordance with International Organization of Standardization (ISO) standards to prevent a recurrence of Jan. 1.

“If CAAP is an ISO-certified agency, it is mandatory to have a Risk Management Plan, which would address the risk of the occurrence of power outage by applying immediately the agency’s action or contingency plan,” Pleyto said. Pleyto made the remarks as CAAP Director General Manuel Antonio Tamayo admitted before the House panel that the agency responsible for prescribing rules and regulations for all aircraft was “not ISO-certified.”

“Not yet your honor, but it is ongoing. We will work on this. That will be our priority. We will definitely work on getting this ISO certification,” the CAAP chief told Pleyto.

Also during the hearing, the CAAP said it purchased two uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems to prevent another air traffic management system malfunction.

“We evaluated the condition of our two UPS, and one of the UPS had a problem on the blower but other than that, it is functioning as it should be. The other UPS had no defects at all. It was not the UPS that was te problem. It was the circuit breaker,” Tamayo said.

Nonetheless, they procured two additional UPS because the existing ones are already in the middle of their product lifespan.

Tamayo also said, “We know it is the circuit breaker, but we don’t know what caused the circuit breaker to fail. We are not authorized to open the circuit breaker. If we find that it is not functioning, then we will replace it as we should.”

“Our internal investigation, including forensic investigation and external investigation by various agencies, is ongoing,” he added.

Tamayo said the CAAP has enough competent personnel running the air traffic management system. “We do have qualified electrical engineers. They are not only qualified, but are experienced technicians, they are trained to operate the Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) System,” he added.

Civil Aviation Board Executive Director Carmelo Arcilla noted that the amount of financial compensation or any other form of remuneration for the over 56,000 passengers affected by grounded flights at the NAIA.last January 1 has yet to be determined pending the final results of the probe.

“The airline losses are at P100 million, but we have to admit the amount [of losses] on the part of individuals affected. We are trying hard to have reference values. There are those whose employment was put in jeopardy [because of the flight delays],” he said.

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