Airport’s return to 24/7 ops contingent on tests

The Commonwealth Ports Authority may cancel the Notice to Airmen or NOTAM that suspended nighttime operations today, Wednesday, depending on tests conducted at the airport.

The three assisting Guam International Airport Authority electricians led by Richard Cabrera will continue working at the airfield until Wednesday noon.

Cabrera met with airport users on Tuesday in the CPA conference room at the Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport.

According to CPA airport manager Ed Mendiola, the NOTAM was to remain in effect until Dec. 7; however, if they can resolve the issues before that date, the airport will resume 24/7 operations and the NOTAM will be cancelled.

NOTAM alerts pilots to hazards along a flight route or at a location that could affect the safety of the flight.

The NOTAM reads: “AD AP CLSD EXC DAY OPERATIONS ONLY.”

Cabrera said they will conduct tests at the airfield from Tuesday night through Wednesday.

“It makes no sense for me to give you an update because the NOTAM will continue until I have more time to do repairs,” he said.

Part of the tests, he said, is keeping the power on so they can determine whether or not a transformer is about to give out.

“If everything’s good, we may cancel the NOTAM tomorrow,” said Mendiola.

As of 11 a.m. on Tuesday, all cables had been pulled —approximately 6,000 linear feet in total — and once energized, they were to be tested one section at a time.

Cabrera said they inspected all four handholes at the airfield.

They are hoping to find the problem before the weekend, he added.

“The priority is to get the runway lights back on,” said Mendiola.

As of Tuesday, three GIAA electricians were working at the airfield.

Mendiola told airline users, “We ask for your understanding and patience as we try to resolve this.”

Source:  http://www.mvariety.com

COMMONWEALTH PORTS AUTHORITY AIRPORT MANAGER ED MENDIOLA AND GUAM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AUTHORITY ELECTRICIAN LEADER RICHARD CABRERA MEET WITH AIRPORT USERS AND AIRLINE REPRESENTATIVES DURING A PRESS CONFERENCE. 

Nighttime flight operations remain suspended as of Monday at the Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport.

At a 4:30 p.m. press conference with airline representatives and other airport users, and presided over by Commonwealth Ports Authority airport manager Ed Mendiola, it was announced that the airport will be open for daytime operations only following a fire in a handhole on Saturday night.

“We’re still on the same schedule — no lights have been turned on,” said Guam International Airport Authority electrician leader Richard Cabrera who flew to Saipan Sunday morning along with electrician II Peter Sablan.

Cabrera told Variety that they worked on the burned handhole and were “working toward the vault.”

He said they will continue the troubleshooting until Dec. 2.

He told the airline representatives and other airport users that they were working on the final hand hole.

“Once we are done with that [on Dec.1], we will start splicing the wires and connect them one by one and start energizing the runway lights.”

He said what is causing difficulty is the areas in the airfield that need to operate 24/7 but are not controlled by a Constant Current Regulator which regulates power going out to the airfield.

He said they told the Federal Aviation Administration that they cannot turn on their equipment because they may get electrocuted while out in the airfield.

“We all have to work together to make sure we get this safely taken care of,” added Cabrera.

Airport manager Ed Mendiola said they may provide another update today, Tuesday.

Cabrera said they will know “if we are ready to energize certain areas and if everything is stable.”

CPA and Cabrera were asked about the Notice to Airmen, or NOTAM which alerts pilots to hazards along a flight route or at a location that could affect the safety of the flight.

On Monday, the NOTAM read: “AD AP CLSD EXC DAY OPERATIONS ONLY.”

A Cape Air representative asked whether they would need to cancel flights.

Cabrera said as long as the NOTAM remains in effect, flights will only be allowed during the day.

There was confusion related to the notice issued to pilots, but Mendiola said they consulted with the tower in coming up with the language for the NOTAM.

He said the NOTAM used the term “day” instead of “daylight.”   It means that if there is daylight, then an aircraft can come in and land.

“They don’t have to spend time flying around,” he said which was what Asiana Airlines did on Monday morning.

Variety learned that an Asiana aircraft arrived earlier than the published sunrise time and was told by the tower to wait.

But the NOTAM, which will remain in effect until Dec. 7, has been clarified with the tower, Mendiola said.

Asiana Airlines general manager Park Sung-nam said their aircraft had to stay airborne for about 40 minutes before they were given permission to land on Saipan.

He said they are concerned about additional costs in the wake of the airport’s condition.

“All [Asiana] flights coming to Saipan are at night. We don’t have daytime flights. So all nighttime flights are impacted.”

He said their flights have to be delayed.

They also had to make other accommodations for their passengers, and transferred those who would be affected by the delayed flights to another airline.

“It costs us a lot,” he said.

Source:  http://www.mvariety.com

Guam International Airport Authority electrician leader Richard Cabrera and electrician II Peter Sablan work on the fire-damaged hand hole at the Saipan airport on Sunday.

A fire in a “hand hole” caused a blackout at the Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport on Saturday night and led to the suspension of evening operations.

Commonwealth Ports Authority Executive Director Maryann Q. Lizama said carriers were immediately notified that no planes could land at night.

At a press conference on Sunday, she said, “Right now, it is sunrise to sundown flight operations only. We’re not closed. We just cannot fly at night. No lights, no takeoffs no landings.”

Lizama said they may be able to resolve the issue of the runway lights in less than three days. “We have an estimate of no more than three days for full recovery. It may be sooner than that.”

As of Sunday morning, CPA’s Aircraft Rescue & Fire Fighting or ARFF unit was “still watering down the lines — heat was still emanating from it,” said Lizama.

She said a fire at the electrical hand hole caused a blackout that affected the runway and taxiway lights.

It was at about 6:30 p.m. on Saturday when she received a phone call regarding the incident, she added.

ARFF, she said, immediately responded. “Our firefighters were able to suppress the fire. We don’t know the cause of fire yet.”

The hand hole is located near the gates where Asiana Airlines and Delta Air Lines load and unload passengers.

Following a meeting with the airlines on Sunday, it was determined that owing to the early notice from CPA, there were neither cancelled nor diverted flights.

“They rescheduled to daytime operations,” said Lizama, referring to the airlines.

CPA was able to issue the notice to airlines at around 7 p.m. Saturday.

“We are expeditiously working to get us back to 24-hour operations again,” Lizama said.

As of Sunday night, there were eight electrical lines that needed to be replaced.

Lizama said it will take two days at most to have the work done.

Two electricians from the Guam International Airport Authority are assisting the CPA to get the lights back on at the runway, she added.

Lizama said after she notified acting Gov. Ralph DLG Torres about the situation at the airport, he reached out to GIAA for assistance.

When asked if the fire could be attributed to Soudelor, as there was a fire at the hole after the typhoon hit the island on Aug. 2, she said, “I cannot say until Team Guam has made that determination. Once they give us the assessment and identify the cause of the fire, then we will be able to give a firm statement as to what the cause was.”

Guam International Airport Authority electrician leader Richard Cabrera and electrician II Peter Sablan work on the fire-damaged hand hole at the Saipan airport on Sunday.  Photo by Alexie Villegas Zotomayor

Two GIAA electricians arrived Sunday morning and another is arriving today, Monday.

GIAA electrician leader Richard Cabrera and GIAA electrician II Peter Sablan immediately buckled down to work to isolate the problem at the hand hole.

Cabrera said this was the second time that they had responded to a completely burned-out hand hole.

They are looking at 12 pairs of electrical wires at the hand hole, he added.

He was optimistic that they could restore at least 80 percent of the lights on Sunday night.

He said they suspect there was a problem on the west side and they needed to do more tests there.

“Taxiway lights will have the east side of the runway operational while the west side will be offline until further notice,” said Cabrera.

It wasn’t long ago when Cabrera’s team flew to Saipan to respond to a similar fire incident.

He said this occurred after Typhoon Soudelor — a hand hole was severely damaged and wires were exposed.

However, he could not say whether there was a connection between the first and this latest incident.

Also on Sunday, CPA met with the airlines to update them about the progress of the work at the hand hole.

Source:   http://www.mvariety.com