Amigoe: Air traffic safety in Aruba in danger

First Peter Steinmetz, director of Aruba Airport Authority (AAA), made the startling and honest comment that less passengers came through Reina Beatrix International Airport . Now in an Amigoe article Peter Steinmetz makes some pretty bold statements regarding air traffic in Aruba. Peter Stenmetz states that Air traffic in Aruba in danger. With the crack down on anything negative said about Aruba in wake of the Aruban boycott; after these two comments in two days will Peter Steinmetz still be employed come the New Year?

Delays in the air traffic from Aruba are so substantial that several airliners are considering suspending their flights. Apparently the main reason seems to be due to the malfunctioning radar in Curaà §ao, the use of outdated software and an unreliable radio communication between the control towers of the Reina Beatrix and Hato airports. American Airlines already threatened to cancel the connections between Aruba and San Juan in Puerto Rico.

 Peter Steinmetz, director of Aruba Airport Authority (AAA), admits that there are problems and stated they have been trying to bring this matter to the attention of minister Edison Briesen (MEP) of Tourism and Transportation and Ady Maduro of the Aviation administration. “Up till now it has not yielded any results”, stated Steinmetz. The problems continue to escalate, because aircrafts on the runway oftentimes need to wait for an hour or even longer before they are cleared for take off and sometimes they can’t even leave the gate.

• malfunctioning radar in Curaà §ao
• use of outdated software
• unreliable radio communication between the control towers of the Reina Beatrix and Hato airports
• added pressure they must deal with and warn that this could lead to what they call ‘human error’
• malfunctioning radar in Aruba
• omni directional beacon Reina Beatrix has been out of service for approx. a year and a half.

Are you kidding? According to the Amigoe article, American Airlines already threatened to cancel the connections between Aruba and San Juan in Puerto Rico. Just another one of those stories of real life situations that tourists take for granted or have no idea of. Its not about exploiting the tourist dollar, its also about the safety. All kidding aside, this is an eye opening article on travel safety.

The radar doesn’t only malfunction in Curaà §ao; it malfunctions in Aruba as well. The omni directional beacon at the Reina Beatrix airport has been out of service for approx. a year and a half. The one in Curaà §ao on the other hand is still operational and according to the Aruban traffic conductors it accounts for better results. Another point that can’t be blamed on Curaà §ao is the fact that the flight connections between Aruba and the US have increased in frequency and thus also the amount of traffic in the airspace.

Air Traffic Control can’t meet the requirements set in the current situation. The air traffic conductors also point out the added pressure they must deal with and warn that this could lead to what they call ‘human error’.

The air traffic conductors believe that the beacon at the airport should become operational again as soon as possible, but that more importantly the radar installations in Curaà §ao as well as Aruba should be put to use. This would not only increase the efficiency but also the air traffic’s safety. The air traffic conductors cynically point out that minister Briesen has been promising to solve the radar problem for four years, but that nothing has yet been done. The radar is also not mentioned in the governing program of the recently appointed cabinet. “Don’t only look for the splinter in the eye of Curaà §ao, but look at the two by four in your own eye.

(Full Amigoe article)