The narrative continues to shift regarding the January 1 shutdown of Philippine airspace, with Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista now blaming the fiasco on a faulty circuit breaker.
Bautista changed his tune on the cause of the crisis during the hearing of the House Transportation Committee Tuesday (January 10).
“We don’t know the reason why it (circuit breaker) failed,” Bautista told lawmakers, saying it would not have been prevented.
Bautista earlier said it had been a power trip, which was later pinned on malfunctioning UPS or voltage regulators that shut down the entire Communications, Navigation and Surveillance Systems for Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) housed in NAIA.
Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) acting director general Manuel Antonio Tamayo added that the circuit breaker is not part of regular checking and maintenance as it had to be kept closed and sealed for safety. He added that authorities did not expect the breaker to cause a problem given its usual lifespan of 20-30 years.