Malaysian Air traffic Control Outdated/Dangerous?

[Ahmad Sharilamin 0]

Scary to think about it...

 

 

Danger in the skies

Terence Fernandez

 

PETALING JAYA: While Malaysia has among the world's best air safety records, the people who watch our crowded skies say that luck has a lot to do with it.

 

It is this clean safety record, say air traffic controllers, that have made the authorities complacent.

 

The Air Traffic Controllers Union charges that the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) is using expired and outdated radar systems to control and monitor air traffic.

 

Safety standards, they say, have been compromised due to red tape and financial considerations. The situation has been described as "grave" as it involves the safety of about 100,000 passengers a day.

 

The system broke down in September, and there is an average of three incidents a month of planes flying too close to each other, due to unclear frequencies or failing equipment, said union president Wan Muhaimin Wan Jamal.

 

The 10-year-old system, which expired a year ago, is installed at Subang, which controls all planes (about 1,000 a day) flying into and over the peninsula.

 

It instructs all airports in the peninsula, including the KL Inter national Airport (KLIA) on when a plane can be cleared to land or take off.

 

The system was supposed to be upgraded under the Eighth Malaysia Plan.

 

"However, bureaucracy has delayed the allocation of funds which are urgently needed for a safer and more reliable air traffic control system.

 

"The allocation is now to be given under the Ninth Malaysia Plan. Even then, it was cut from RM500 million to RM250 million. And when will the money come?" asked Wan Muhaimin.

 

He said the system costs about RM100 million to upgrade and several more millions to maintain.

 

Wan Muhaimin said in September, the system broke down for two hours, delaying several flights.

 

"Planes which were already airborne were directed via radio and manual procedures to land or to keep circling until the situation was rectified," he revealed.

 

He said the planes' onboard radars also helped to avert unwanted incidents.

 

Union secretary M.K. Veloo said as funds for maintenance were slow in coming, they had to cannibalise the back-up system to repair the main system.

 

"We go to work everyday, with the knowledge that should something go wrong, we have no back-up," said Veloo.

 

Giving an example of the red tape and apathy, Wan Muhaimin said a blurred monitor for Sector Three ­ the busiest of four sectors ­ which controls flights to and from the Far East as well as Los Angeles, was only recently replaced.

 

"It was a strain on some of the older controllers as they could not read the details on the screen," he said.

 

Wan Muhaimin said controllers could not cope with the present system, especially since air traffic has increased. There is a need for another 100 air traffic controllers to the present 650.

 

To fill these vacancies, retirees are brought back.

 

Wan Muhaimin said the union met the Traffic Services Division of the DCA in February, and the DCA every three months to address these issues ­ each time being told that their concerns were being looked into.

 

"Are they waiting for a disaster before they start moving?" he asked.

 

theSun was shown memos which revealed that on Oct 21 there was a near-miss between an Air India plane and a Malaysia Airlines aircraft over Langkawi.

 

It occurred because a controller ignored an alarm ­ triggered when planes fly too close to each other. In this case, one plane flew over the other just 700ft apart. The distance for clearance is 1,000ft. The controller has been suspended.

 

However, Veloo said this particular alarm is faulty. "It goes off all the time that sometimes controllers ignore them as it is distracting," he said.

 

 

 

Pilots voice their concerns

 

Terence Fernandez

 

PETALING JAYA: Several pilots have come forward to voice their concerns following theSun's report yesterday on the outdated and unmaintained Air Traffic Control (ATC) system at the Subang centre.

 

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the pilots corroborated the Air Traffic Controllers Union's perception on the safety standards of the Subang ATC system that controls and monitors flights coming into and flying over the peninsula.

 

"Sometimes we have difficulty hearing what is said. The static is bad," said a commercial pilot with eight years' experience.

 

"We have to do guesswork sometimes, as at times it is too late to get a reconfirmation."

 

Another pilot said Peninsular Malaysia is fortunate that its air traffic of 1,000 planes a day is not as heavy as in other countries such as Japan or Singapore.

 

"If we were to operate an airspace of about 2,000 flights a day with this kind of ATC system, then we will be in trouble," said the pilot, who has been flying for nearly 20 years.

 

A pilot who has been flying for 17 years said there are even times when the radio goes dead.

 

"However, if you have been flying the same route for a while, then you can more or less guess what the air traffic controller was saying," he said.

 

"But that is not good aviation safety practice.

 

"I'm glad I'm flying a helicopter now. At least if I'm in doubt, I can hover for awhile until I get clear instructions. You can't do that with a plane flying at a ground speed of 800km an hour."

 

The Malaysia Airlines Pilots Association (MAPA) has reserved its comments.

 

Updated: 09:57PM Wed, 07 Dec 2005

 

Source: The Sun

Edited December 9, 2005 by Ahmad Sharilamin

[kandiah k 0]

Any comments from aviation experts or responsible authorities ?

 

 

[Benjamin Ho 0]

I think upgrading the system is crucial.

 

If KLIA were to seek more traffic to fly to KUL, one of the big turn of for airlines is going to be potential dangerous in flying INTO the airport itself due to poor and outdated system.

 

no promotional package is going to help KLIA attract traffic if airline knows their asset and customer's safety is at risk.

 

Ben-G

[Nick R. 0]

Heh..one of the radars here in KCH do occasionally break down,esp after major thunderstorm.

[Kevin Teh 0]

sounds dangerous~ did they forward this to the government?