CAAP eyes 2 new jets for inspection chores

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) is planning to purchase two eight-seater jet aircraft for the use of its Flight Inspection and Calibration Group (FICG) to inspect navigational instrument of all airports in the country.

CAAP Director General for operations and finance Rodante Joya said CAAP will bid-out soon the contracts for the purchase of two jet aircraft, one as a trainer plane and another for the inspection and calibration of all reported damaged navigational equipment all over the country as unanimously approved by the CAAP board.

Joya said that “it was going to be much cheaper to buy our own airplane rather than hire aircraft and specialists every time there is a need to conduct fine tuning or calibration of all kinds of navigational system in the country.”

Joya revealed this during the blessing of the state-of-the-art fire trucks yesterday morning at the CAAP compound near the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). The ceremony was headed by CAAP Director General William Hotchkiss III and Jim MCCarthy from the United States embassy.

Hotchkiss said the CAAP was upgrading fire trucks and other communication equipment and facilities at all airports in the country to conform to global aviation standards and safety.

The new fire trucks, called Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting vehicles (ARFFs), was duly inspected by an independent international third party certification agency which saw to it that they met and exceeded all National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), FAA, and ICAO international standards for aircraft and rescue fighting.

CAAP operates 81 airports with 41 of them handling commercial flights. These commercial airports have an inventory of 97 fire trucks with acquisition dates to as old as 1968 and with 17 units out of commission due to a lack in supply of spare parts.

The working 80 units of fire trucks on CAAP inventory has an average year acquisition of 20 years. In 2013, three new ARFF vehicles, with 6,000to 13,000-liter capacity were added.

Hotchkiss said the deployment of the newly acquired ARFF would be part of the upgrading of the Emergency Services Unit of CAAP in all major airports in the country in compliance with the International Civil Authority Organization (ICAO), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the European Union (EU) international standards for aircraft and rescue fighting requirements.

CAAP placed the tender for the procurement of 41 units of custom-built ARFF vehicles through competitive bidding, four units of 6x6 fire trucks with 12,000 liters water capacity and 37 units of 4 x 4 fire trucks with 6,000 liters capacity.