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THE
Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC)
Thursday said the upgrading of the Tagaytay radar
facility—crucial to civil aviation—will be completed by
July next year. The implication: this busy holiday
season will pose a problem to commercial airlines
because safety considerations will force air-traffic
controllers to keep the longer separation periods
between flights.
The
radar system, when in tiptop shape, enables the
controllers to see at a glance the actual situation of
aircraft traffic in the designated airspace, and allows
for shorter separation periods between planes—resulting
in the efficient use of airspace, minimum fuel expense
and shortened travel time and enhancement of air safety.
The old
system, set up in 1994 with a guaranteed life of 12
years, has been hobbled in recent weeks, prompting the
controllers to stretch separations between planes from
the usual three to as much as 12 or 15 minutes. This
could pose problems as Christmas nears and traffic gets
heavy.
The Air
Transportation Office, which is funding the project,
said the cost to upgrade the radar system will reach
P180 million. It told the DOTC that the contractor’s
mobilization has already started with accomplishments on
radar site soil testing, radar tower structure and
foundation design, and the critical design review of the
equipment to be delivered.
With
regard to the intermittent signal at the Tagaytay radar
facility, the ATO reported to the DOTC that Air
Navigation Systems Specialists on-site are working
overtime to perform corrective maintenance on the cause
of the intermittent operation.
The ATO
will issue the corresponding Notice to Airmen
immediately upon ensuring 100-percent efficiency of the
radar, it added.
The DOTC
maintains that civil aviation safety and security is of
primordial concern to ensure the safety of air
travelers. It is currently undertaking the New
Communications Navigation Surveillance-Air Traffic
Management (CNS-ATM) System Development Project, which
aims to develop a dynamic and integrated CNS-ATM System
using satellite technology to enhance safety,
reliability and efficiency of air traffic and airspace
systems in the country.
The
CNS-ATM development project is in line with the
initiative development direction of the International
Civil Aviation Organization on air navigation systems.
The
funding of this project was sourced through the Overseas
Development Assistance of the Japan Bank of
International Cooperation. Target project completion is
2010.
The
CNS-ATM is a satellite-based technology designed to
effectively and efficiently control and manage the air
traffic system within the Manila Flight Information
Region. The project covers the establishment of priority
elements of the new satellite-based CNS-ATM systems at
selected airports and sites nationwide.
An
official of the Airline Operators Council meanwhile
urged government authorities to expedite the repair of
the Tagaytay radar facility, fearing that a prolonged
repair might compromise the safety of international
commercial traffic operating in Manila, at a time when
the influx of passengers are at its peak during the
holiday seasons.
At the
same time, the official who requested not to be named
because of the sensitivity of his position, said that
frequent typhoons visiting the Philippines might
completely render the radar inoperable and that would
complicate the situation.
“We are
frequently visited by weather disturbances and a typhoon
might knock out completely the Tagaytay radar and that
would make our pilots look like blindfolded car
drivers,” he said.
He said
the Christmas Season is a time when more flights are
mounted by all foreign airlines operating out of the
Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), and expressed
fears that delays would mean addition fuel expenses for
them, at a time when fuel prices are at their highest
record levels. |
