NextGen Day

To avoid a repeat of the air traffic malfunction on New Year’s Day, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) intends to purchase a backup system for its Communications, Navigation, Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM).

This is what CAAP Director General Manuel Antonio Tamayo said to the senators on Thursday during his appearance before the Committee on Public Services, which was investigating the event that resulted in thousands of passengers having their flights canceled and delayed.

Tamayo simultaneously expressed regret to the public for what had occurred and stated that CAAP was fully accountable for the mishap.

“We again express our deepest apologies to all individuals who were inconvenienced and profoundly affected by this event, which is something we’re not proud of,” he remarked on behalf of CAAP and DOTr (Department of Transportation).

He continued, “We learn from this, and we demonstrate to this honorable committee and other Filipinos that we take full responsibility and accountability for what happened.

While acknowledging full responsibility for what occurred, Tamayo added that CAAP has already taken steps to ensure that the current Air Traffic Management Center (ATMC) has a backup system in place.

“In order to assure system redundancy and modernization in the current CNS/ATM, CAAP has already started taking action. On January 5, 2023, DOTr and CAAP met with the system supplier’s representative to finalize the agreements,” Tamayo added.

He continued by saying that it might get done in the first quarter of 2023.

He pledged, “We commit to seeing this through, remain honest in all our dealings, be of service to the Filipinos, and make sure that our skies are secure.

Earlier this week, Tamayo testified before a House panel that CAAP had already bought new uninterruptible power supply (UPS) units for its CNS/ATM as part of precautions to avoid a repeat of the disaster.

He added, however, that the older UPS systems that can still be serviced and utilized as a backup will not be removed.

The Senate Committee on Public Services’ chair, senator Grace Poe, earlier announced that the body will look into the air system glitch, which she suggested could be a threat to national security.

Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Risa Hontiveros, and Ramon Revilla Jr., as well as Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva, have asked for a similar investigation.

“We have a stake in finding out what happened and why, as well as holding people accountable. But ultimately, we want to ensure that this won’t happen again. To do this, we won’t just upgrade the system or replace the technology; we also want to ensure that the organizations in charge of things are strong and capable “In her opening remarks, Poe added.

“There are numerous competing theories, but since CAAP has access to all incident logs, it will be the single source of truth. Noting that CAAP adheres to the nonpunitive nature of investigations “Added she.

Tamayo claims that the CNS/ATM was launched on January 16, 2008, with the goal of completely covering Philippine airspace by adding 10 more radars to the prior three, reducing aircraft delays, and enhancing overall travel experiences.

Packages 1 and 2 of the facility’s procurement, which cost roughly $10 billion, were separated into separate projects that began in 2009.

“The Air Traffic Management Center, or ATMC, is being built as part of Package 1 in Pasay City. Construction of all additional facilities is included in Package 2 to complete the CNS/ATM. The CNS/ATM took 4 years to complete, was given to CAAP on October 16, 2017, and was inaugurated in 2018 “said Tamayo.

Around 9:49 a.m. on January 1, the facility’s power was turned off by the CNS/ATM UPS, which Tamayo said was the root of the problem.

The CAAP chief explained that the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center investigated the event in parallel on January 3 and determined that a cyberattack was unlikely to be the cause of the occurrence.

Air traffic controllers are praised by Ejercito.

While this was going on, Senator JV Ejercito praised air traffic controllers for putting emergency preparations in place during the height of the traffic technical malfunction that occurred on New Year’s Day.

Senator JV Ejercito made note of the Air Traffic Management Center’s (ATMC) efforts to continue its operations when the (CNS/ATM) went offline during the Senate Committee on Public Services’ investigation.

“So we switched to traditional during the entire time the CNS was down. That most likely stopped a disaster or catastrophe. I want to thank the air traffic controllers from our company who were there. You were practically blind at that time, so “Speaking to ATMC Manager Anna Joy Papag, who served as the incident commander throughout the incident, Ejercito remarked.

Ejercito questioned Papag on the ATMC’s preparedness for worst-case circumstances, and the latter responded that the nation’s air traffic controllers are well-trained and have backup plans in place.

She advised contacting the closest air traffic service as the first step.

“We have set them up to land using regular procedural procedures. This also applies to traffic within 70 nautical miles “Papag clarified, pointing out that they followed customary protocols requiring aircraft to have greater separations in order to ensure safe operations because they did not have visibility due to the outage of the radar scopes at the time.

“We can communicate with the pilots and the planes. As a result, with the authorization we have granted them, they were now directed to the airports, sir. Additionally, by using our mobile phones, we were able to communicate with our counterparts in countries outside the Philippines, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Udyong Pandang, and others that are close by, and request that they hold flights to Manila or accommodate flights that are already within their range in order to fix the issue with our system “said Papag.

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