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Saturday, September 27, 2003
Cebu airport's safety questioned anew
By Karen M. Flores
With Elias O. Baquero
CEBU -- The state of disrepair of the Mactan runway was again the subject of discussion at the Regional Development Council (RDC) 7 Friday, with a report that another aircraft's tire exploded there last Thursday.
This gave way to a proposal to create a National Transportation Safety Board, a body separate from the Air Transportation Office (ATO) that will be tasked to investigate accidents on land, sea and air.
The tires of a Philippine Airlines (PAL) Airbus 330 aircraft suffered an almost two-foot laceration upon landing at the Mactan airport last Aug. 11. It happened days after PAL warned that it will be forced to stop operating at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport if the runway further deteriorates.
RDC private sector representative Emmanuel Rabacal yesterday said he received word, although from a source identified with Echelon Industries Inc., that one of the tires of one of the planes of Cebu Pacific exploded at the MCIA runway at 10 a.m. last Thursday.
This brought to light questions on the "quality" of the products being used in the rejuvenation currently being done by administration in some parts of the airport runway, Rabacal said.
However, Valeriano "Bobit" Avila, a private sector representative to both the RDC and the MCIA Authority (MCIAA), said the ATO should be asked to investigate the matter and that the public should not be so quick to blame the runway.
"Sometimes, airline companies run their planes' tires to the ground, hangtod ma-upaw na lang," he said.
MCIAA public affairs manager Ahmed Cuizon said the explosion was caused by locking of brakes and should not be blamed on the runway.
An official of Echelon, which has been shut out from the runway rejuvenation contract, blamed the winning contractor for poor work.
Meanwhile, the MCIAA board designated Assistant General Manager Marcelino Cordova as officer-in-charge of the general manager's office effective Oct. 1, 2003.
But the board chaired by Transportation and Communications Undersecretary Edward Harun Pagunsan clarified that the position of general manager "is not vacant." They are giving General Manager Angelo Verdan 30 days to complete the eligibility requirements set by the Civil Service Commission (CSC).
Earlier, the CSC disapproved Verdan's appointment because he lacks Career Executive Service Officer eligibility.
The major concern for airport officials and development planners now is the state of the Mactan runway.
However, Cuizon said the explosion of an aircraft tire last Thursday cannot be blamed on the runway condition.
He said the tire of Cebu Pacific DC 9 aircraft Flight 5J563 is old and may have reached its lifespan.
Earlier, Crisanto Saavedra of Echelon Industries said during a radio interview that the aircraft tire exploded because the runway is very rough.
Echelon had filed a case against MCIAA after it failed to get the contract to repair the runway even though it won bidding. The legal battle had resulted in the delay of runway repairs.
An order from the Court of Appeals allowed the rejuvenation works to start early this month.
According to an ATO investigation, the last report of a tire explosion, which involved a PAL plane, was actually caused by the aircraft's locked brake, not because of the runway's state.
"We should not make the runway a scapegoat all the time. Maybe we should also investigate the maintenance schedule of airlines companies," Avila said during the meeting.
Avila further said that instead of the ATO, a National Transportation Safety Board, similar to one in the US, would be the better body to investigate such an incident.
This way, he said there would be no conflict of interest because in this case, it is the ATO that is conducting the runway repair while it is the quality of the materials being used that is questioned.
"The ATO is currently the judge, jury and executioner," Avila noted. Sun.Star Cebu
(September 27, 2003 issue)
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