DOTC vows to correct air traffic system deficiencies

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) said the deficiencies found in a backup air traffic control system laid out during the previous administration will be “corrected” in 90 days, an official said yesterday.

DOTC Secretary Jose de Jesus said the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), which conducted a technical audit of the new Manila Area Control Center (MACC), will take charge of the corrections to be done during the 90-day period.

“Ninety days from now, we should be able to commission it,” he told The STAR.

De Jesus presided over a meeting to tackle the problems found by the CAAP’s Aerodrome and Air Navigation Safety Oversight Office (AANSOO) in a technical audit they conducted on the new MACC from April 11 to 15.

The audit, presented to the DOTC’s Civil Aviation Cluster during its meeting last Friday, found the system had at least 20 major deficiencies or “non-conformity” to international aviation standards and requirements.

 Among the serious deficiencies cited in the audit were a lack of provisions to ensure an “error-tolerant” or “fail-safe procedural or physical system,” and that the sytem was never checked if it meets the strict standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization. The audit also found the MACC was not assessed for safety. 

De Jesus said the audit was “part of the exercise prior to commissioning” the new MACC.

De Jesus said the project’s contractor, the Revere Construction and Supply-CS Soft, Inc.-Enhanced Electronics Communications Services joint venture, will also be involved in correcting the deficiencies.

De Jesus brushed aside concerns raised over the “near collisions” reported by two major airlines when the new MACC was tested last March.

“That was attributed to air traffic controllers ‘lapses’, it was not because of the MACC,” he said.

The CAAP Employees Union said the new MACC project is one of the graft-ridden projects undertaken by the DOTC under the Arroyo administration.