DOTr to submit findings on New Year system crash

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said it will submit the findings of its investigation on the Communication, Navigation and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) system next week to the Senate committee on public services.

In a statement, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said the findings will be presented on Feb. 15.

The investigating body – composed of the DOTr, Department of Information and Communications Technology, Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center, National Bureau of Investigation and National Intelligence Coordinating Agency – is prepared to submit its findings on that date.

“We have organized an investigating team. We have given ourselves a deadline of Feb. 15 to come up with the final findings. So let’s wait,” Bautista said yesterday, during the inspection of senators at the CNS/ATM facilities.

On New Year’s Day, the system was shut off after a technical glitch led to the shutting down of the Philippine airspace for hours.

Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) officials briefed senators during an ocular inspection at the Air Traffic Management Center as part of the Senate inquiry on the ATMC mechanical failure that disrupted Philippine air traffic on Jan. 1.

Sen. Grace Poe, public services committee chair, said the senators were satisfied with the inspection of facilities and concluded that the automatic voltage regulator (AVR), which supplies power to the air traffic control system, must have caused the foul-up at Ninoy Aquino International Airport as it has not been replaced since August 2020.

“Based on our visit today, we were able to realize that it’s really the AVR that hasn’t been replaced since August 2020,” she said.

CAAP spokesman Eric Apolonio said at the inspection on Monday were Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and senators JV Ejercito, Joel Villanueva, Raffy Tulfo, Risa Hontiveros and Poe.

The briefing was led by CAAP director general Capt. Manuel Antonio Tamayo, deputy director for operations Capt. Edgardo Diaz, deputy director for administration Danjun Lucas, Air Traffic Service chief Marlene Singson and Air Navigation Service acting chief Alex Balde. – Rudy Santos