Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 4) — The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) on Wednesday said an internal investigation is still ongoing on what led to the New Year’s Day technical breakdown that caused the cancellation of hundreds of flights and affected 65,000 passengers.
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“The internal investigation is ongoing and we will try to complete it as soon as possible,” CAAP Deputy Director for Operations Edgardo Diaz told CNN Philippines’ The Source.
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He also said CAAP is open to an external investigation into the incident.
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During a briefing on Sunday, CAAP Director General Manuel Tamayo said the issue occurred after one of the uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) failed to operate and troubleshooting had to be done.
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The technical issue affected the whole Communications, Navigation and Surveillance Systems for Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM), which is used by air traffic controllers for visibility of air space and for communication with pilots.
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Diaz said the investigation is pointing to the UPS as the cause of the disruption in operations and that CAAP engineers are already looking into it.
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Meanwhile, the possibility of the problem coming from power source Meralco has been ruled out, he noted.
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“If there is power, it passes through several equipment and one of that equipment is the UPS. If there is something wrong with the UPS then that can cause the cut of power going to the equipment we are using for our CNS/ATM,” he said.
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Diaz noted that daily checks, aside from the regular maintenance checkup program, are being done in the CNS/ATM and that it was even checked the day the glitch occurred.
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For now, the current CNS/ATM is still functional and just needs further updating, Diaz said.
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He said the government has also been planning to purchase a new system to be used as the primary CNS/ATM, making the existing one a backup.
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Following the air traffic mess, local think tank Infrawatch PH said high-ranking officials of CAAP must resign, as the crisis brought “international embarrassment” to the Philippines.
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For Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista, the probe into the incident must first be completed. But he said should there be officials found responsible for the breakdown, resignation will not be enough.
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“Kung mad-determine natin na merong neglect, kailangan talagang parusahan natin itong mga nagkasala. Hindi lang magre-resign, but kailangan parusahan,” Bautista told CNN Philippines’ News Night on Wednesday.
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[Translation: If we determine that there was neglect, we really need to punish those responsible. Not only should they resign, they should also be penalized.]
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Bautista also said that while the investigation currently does not point to sabotage, they are still not discounting the possibility as all angles are being considered.
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In a statement, Sen. Grace Poe said she will call for a hearing on Jan. 12 to look into the issue.
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“Allowing CAAP & DOTr (Department of Transportation) to normalize airport operations before conducting a hearing. By that time key executives should not have an excuse not to attend,” she said.
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