141 of 192 'navaids' at Phl airports 'unreliable' - CAAP

MANILA, Philippines - Almost three years after the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines was created to maintain the country’s civil aviation systems, 141 of 192 navigational aids or “navaids” in the country’s airports were found to be unreliable because the CAAP cannot calibrate them on a regular basis, according to documents obtained by The STAR.

A CAAP audit report on the navigation equipment and facilities for the first quarter of this year showed that as of Jan. 31, only 51 of the 192 navaids in the country’s airports have “current” calibration.

The equipment and facilities necessary in airport navigation include Doppler VHF (very high frequency) omnidirectional range (DVOR) stations, distance measuring equipment (DME), precision approach path indicator (PAPI) systems, non-directional beacons (NDBs), glide slope, and localizers.

These navaids provide pilots with information such as direction, height and distance between the aircraft and the airport to enable them to land and take off even in inclement weather.

For the month of April, the calibration period for six navaids at Subic Bay International Airport lapsed. These include two localizers, two DMEs, and two glide scopes.

The CAAP audit found that at the Davao International Airport, all nine navaids are not calibrated and its glide scope is unserviceable. All the navaids at the Bacolod-Silay Airport and the Zamboanga Airport do not have current calibration.

At Cebu’s Mactan International Airport, the calibration of one localizer and two DMEs expired in March.

CAAP director general Ramon Gutierrez, a retired Philippine Air Force colonel, told The STAR the agency’s flight check aircraft “has been out of commission since I came in due to faulty engine overhaul” and this has prevented them from conducting the periodic calibration flight checks on the navaids.

“However, we will engage the services of outside providers since none is available in the country until our plane becomes operational,” he added.

The CAAP Employees Union (CAAP-EU), which had earlier exposed the lack of periodic calibration checks on the navaids, expressed hope that the CAAP’s top officials will prioritize addressing the problem “to raise the confidence of our air traffic controllers and communicators as they direct the aircrafts that fly in our airspace.”

The CAAP-EU said the regular calibration of the navaids is a requirement of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which had raised significant safety concerns (SSCs) on Philippine civil aviation systems in December 2009.

The SSC rating for the Philippines was a double whammy for the country’s civil aviation industry after the United States Federal Aviation Authority downgraded the country from a Category 1 to a Category 2 rating due to deficiencies in its civil aviation systems in December 2007.

In an electronic bulletin issued by the ICAO on Dec. 18, 2009, it listed the countries with SSC findings as Angola, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Congo, Djibouti, Guinea-Bissau, Kazakhstan, Malawi, Philippines, Rwanda, and Zambia.

The US FAA downgrade prompted the Arroyo administration to rush the enactment of Republic Act 9497, which dissolved the Air Transportation Office and created the CAAP, allowing the new agency to keep the income from landing and navigation fees to buy equipment and hire qualified technical personnel.

The Department of Transportation and Communications is reportedly in the middle of negotiations to hire the services of a US civil aviation expert, retired US FAA executive Tim Neel, to advise the DOTC and CAAP and help regain the country’s Category 1 status with the US FAA.