The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) is looking at building an independent backup for the Communication, Navigation and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) system and the hiring of third-party contractors to prevent a recurrence of the technical glitch last January 1.
Manuel Antonio Tamayo, CAAP director general, told members of the House Committee on transportation CAAP has recommended the following enhancements: procurement of a multi-mode fallback system (system upgrade), construction of an independent backup CNS/ATM, and tap a third-party contractor to provide oversight on the operation and maintenance of the system.
“To avoid this kind of circumstance recurring, we recommend the following plans for the CNS/ATM: restore and enhance to its original design before the incident, procurement of the multi-mode fallback system which is considered a systems upgrade,” Tamayo said.
“(We are also looking at) the construction of an independent backup for CNS/ATM, and hiring of a third-party contractor to provide oversight,” he added.
Tamayo sought the assistance of the House committee in coming up with measures that will prevent the technical glitch’s recurrence and ensure safe Philippine skies.
“It is true that any man-made equipment can’t be 100 percent perfect all the time, but we want the public to know that we shall do the best we can in order to provide an efficient service to our country and to the aviation sector,” Tamayo said.
Last January 1, the CNS/ATM system was shut down for six hours due to a technical glitch that resulted in the cancellation of 360 flights and over 60,000 affected passengers.
An independent body is investigating details of the technical glitch that led to the total shutoff of the CNS/ATM system, according to Roberto Lim, Department of Transportation (DOTr) undersecretary for aviation.
In a statement, Lim said the investigating body is comprised of representatives from the DOTr, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA).
Lim added that CAAP was inhibited from participating in the investigation.
Representatives of agencies have already visited the CNS/ATM site and have gathered relevant testimonies from personnel manning the critical system, Lim said.
He added a vulnerability test is being conducted on both the CNS/ATM system and its equipment.
Lim said the investigation could take weeks before the body can submit its findings and recommendations to the committee. – Myla Iglesias
