The Tribune

By DANA SMITH dsmith@tribunemedia.net A FAILING and "erratic" air traffic control radar system has been plaguing Lynden Pindling International Airport for years and poses a "serious" problem, it was claimed last night. Roscoe Perpall, president of the Bahamas Air Traffic Control Union (BATCU), said that in recent weeks "the radar's returns have become erratic" and he warned of the potential danger to passengers. The radar, which displays the position of aircraft to air traffic controllers as "targets," sometimes shows planes "jumping" around or disappearing, leaving air traffic controllers to simply "hope" planes are where they should be. "If I can explain, we are normally required to provide generally a three-mile separation between aircraft. That is represented on our radar display by a distance of about one centimetre or thereabout," Mr Perpall said. "The targets that are supposed to be separated by one centimetre, thereabout - which represents three nautical miles - are jumping." According to the radar, aircraft sometimes jump "somewhere near ten or 15 centimetres" or might even disappear completely off the radar. "Meanwhile, the air traffic controller has to maintain basically a mental picture of where the target was last and hope that the information upon refresh would be somewhere in the vicinity of where we thought it ought to be," Mr Perpall said. "Although there are safety mechanisms within the job to take care of some of those things, the air traffic controller is put under additional strain to continue to provide separation. Bearing in mind that the communication at the Nassau international airport is not the best." The government has three contractors who are looking into the replacement of the radar, Mr Perpall confirms, but it's not something they expect to be done within the next year. "We are in trouble," he said. "We do not know when the radar will fail totally but we anticipate it will be soon." A failing radar system has been plaguing the airport for years, and in one instance, the government purchased a system for around $10 million which, it is claimed, didn't help. "It was a used radar, it was installed at the Nassau international airport, it never worked, we have no use for it, I believe now it will be probably scrapped," Mr Perpall said. "It will not be used anywhere else in this country, we don't know what will happen to it, but we are intending to purchase a new radar to replace this." He believes the only way the government will take heed to their problems is if "God forbid" a fatal plane accident occurs. "The only way that we think the attention needed will be given to the air traffic control profession, it appears, (is) if we were to suffer a fatal accident - especially involving one the US carriers," Mr Perpall said. But he explained the controllers "work very hard to ensure that it doesn't happen". He believes the airport is in violation of about 35 aviation infractions, but said the controllers "try to make it seamless" and do their best at their jobs. "We do not want anything to happen and to the extent possible, we bend over backwards to ensure that every operation conducted in this airspace is done as safe as possible," Mr Perpall said. Another problem air traffic controllers face include a small "communication area" - limited to about 50 or 80 miles. Meaning that a flight leaving Nassau for Long Island can only communicate with the Nassau airport within that range. Upon landing in Long Island, Mr Perpall said the pilot would have to use a telephone to call the Nassau controllers to "let us know they are safe". The union has a proposed meeting today with Minister of Aviation Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace to discuss outstanding matters following the recent "work to rule" action. Mr Perpall said the relationship between BATCU and the government is "strained" and they want the Minister to "deliver on those commitments he made during the Christmas holiday break." Issues plaguing air traffic controllers include outstanding promotions, outdated equipment - including the faulty radar, and a "damaged" air traffic control facility. Mr Vanderpool-Wallace was not available for comment.