By Robert Hart, Staff ReporterTHE LONG-PROMISED navigational and communications system, which was rescheduled for installation at the Norman Manley International Airport by the end of last month, has yet to be put into operation.
Although the installation of the equipment, the NORMAC (NAVIA) 7000 Instrument Landing System, has been completed on time, a flight test must first be conducted by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), says an official from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
According to Jeremiah Baker, deputy director-general for administrative services at the CAA, the rescheduled construction of the Instrument Landing System (ILS), at a cost of US$1 million (J$48 million), has gone according to plan.
"The physical installation has now been completed. So has the site acceptance of the equipment. We now have to complete flight testing before commissioning it (the ILS) into service," he told The Gleaner on Monday.
During the flight test, the system will be used to guide a single test plane, into the island, via the Norman Manley airport.
REDRAFTED AND REDESIGNED
In January, The Gleaner reported that the initial plans for the installation of the ILS had to be redrafted after it was found that the original design would have necessitated a reduction in the length of the airport's runway. The redesigning of the plans led to the rescheduling of completion from December 2002 to March of this year.
Last year, Minister of Transport and Works, Robert Pickersgill, signed a US$1 million contract for installation of the ILS system, with the Canadian firm Intelcan Technosystems. The equipment makes it easier for pilots to land aircraft in poor weather.
The decision to have the equipment installed was taken in the wake of a strike by air traffic controllers at the airport in February 2002. The air safety workers complained about faulty equipment with which they had to work. Also influencing the Minister's action was the November 2001 near-disaster at the airport, involving Air Jamaica's Flight 010. The pilot had missed the runway by several miles, flying low over the residential community of Hope Pastures, St. Andrew, before climbing out of danger. Malfunctioning equipment and bad weather were initially blamed for the incident and junior pilots asked the CAA to install an ILS.
