The House Committee on Transportation chaired by Antipolo City Representative Romeo Acop resumed discussions on the air traffic control technical glitch that delayed flights at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and shut down the country’s airspace on New Year’s Day.
Acop reiterated that the discussions aim to identify what happened in the Communications, Navigation, Surveillance / Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) System of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).
“CAAP should immediately investigate and determine if there was a possibility of a cyber security attack.”
Committee Vice-Chairperson and Parañaque City Representative Gus Tambunting asked CAAP to immediately investigate and determine if there was a possibility of a cyber security attack.
Meanwhile, CAAP Director General Captain Manuel Tamayo again apologized at the onset of the briefing, for the conflicting statements released during the investigation, stating that the agency strives to be transparent to the public.
“We take full responsibility and accountability.”
“We take full responsibility and accountability. We shall do the best we can in order to provide service to our country,” Tamayo stressed.
He noted that the CAAP is already in the process of procuring new uninterruptible power supply (UPS) units, assuring further that the CAAP would “do everything” to improve their system.
For his part, Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) Executive Director Atty. Carmelo Arcilla propounded on the importance of strengthened collaboration among concerned agencies.
Noting that each agency has its own crisis management program, Arcilla said there is a need to prioritize synchronizing and unifying these programs to ensure passengers do not suffer from such incident again in the future.
Meanwhile, 1-RIDER Party-list Representative Bonifacio Bosita raised that the probe would be hampered if the specific cause remains undetermined.
Acop stressed that it is best for CAAP to conduct a full equipment audit to be able to pinpoint the main cause of the system failure.
APEC Party-list Rep. Sergio Dagooc asked the CAAP to submit its spare parts inventory for the past three years, reflecting their withdrawals and utilization.
CAAP was also requested to submit the official report on the incident, particularly on the electrical component.
