KOTA KINABALU: The delays in flights arriving and departing the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) last weekend was due to a technical failure in its Air Traffic Management (ATM) system.
The ATM system was not receiving any radar data feed, the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) said in response to the complaint by Likas assemblyman Junz Wong which was published in The Borneo Post on Monday.
In that circumstance, the Air Traffic Control Officers (ATCOs) had to revert to managing the movements without the use of radar and this method required more separation between aircraft thus causing delays.
According to the statement, the provision of the air traffic control (ATC) service to all aircraft in and out of KKIA was being managed by DCA Kota Kinabalu Air Traffic Control Centre (ATCC).
“As KKIA is a busy airport, the use of radar as the primary tool to manage aircraft movements in the air in a safe, orderly and expeditious manner by ATCOs is similar to how it is done all over the world.
“The use of radar allows the ATCO to ‘see’ the position of the various aircraft on a display monitor permitting ATCO to employ ‘radar separation standards’ that is not only safer but a lot more efficient,” the statement read.
DCA in the statement said: “On August 10 at about 1pm, a technical failure occurred resulting in the ATM system not receiving any radar data feed.
In this circumstance, ATCOs are trained to revert to a less expeditious but equally safe method of managing the movements ‘procedurally’ without the use of radar.
“However, in using ‘procedural control’, the separation between aircraft needs to be more as compared to the use of radar control, thereby causing delays to aircraft. Needless to say this is all done in the interest of safety,” it said.
According DCA, the radar data came back to the ATM system at 5pm from all the radar sensors located in Labuan, Miri, Sibu, Kuching and Tawau except Kota Kinabalu.
“Nevertheless, the radar data feed from all other sensors was sufficient for ATCOs to provide radar control services.
The maintenance contractor is now working on the radio link connection the remaining sensor.
“The DCA however would like to reiterate that safety of all aircraft operating in Malaysian airspace will always be a priority and strictly adheres to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards and recommended practices,” the statement concluded.