Radar equipment installed at P.G.I.A.
Every day, there are as many as one hundred and fifty landings at the P.G.I.A. But as News Five’s Jacqueline Godwin reports, a significant investment by the Aviation Department should make every one of those arrivals that much safer.
Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting
For the first time in Belize, planes flying above our skies will show up on a national radar. According to local officials, the state of the art technology marks a milestone achievement in the history of civil aviation in the country.
The secondary mono-pulse surveillance radar is housed at the approach control centre at the Philip Goldson International airport. Air traffic controllers will not only be able to see an aircraft hundreds of miles away, it will also ensure that planes are kept a safe distance apart. Marsha Hinkson, who has been manually directing planes on approach and take off from the P.G.I.A. for the past sixteen years, says before using a radar they were forced to rely on pilots in the air to keep track of aircraft in the area.
Jacqueline Godwin
“How busy are the skies above Belize?”
Marsha Hinkson, Air Traffic Controller, P.G.I.A.
“They are very busy. Right now it is not really peak season, but there are other times that it is peak and it is very busy.”
“It should cover two hundred and fifty six miles actually. The coverage that we would be controlling will be determined still, it still has not yet been determined. What we are presently controlling is, positive control is twenty-five mile radius from the airport, but that is expected to increase.”
Today, the Communication System and Centre situated just below the air traffic control tower was inaugurated during special ceremonies. Minister of Transport, Jose Coye says the country must meet the increasing demands in air traffic control.
Jose Coye, Minister of Transport and Communication
“Because there is an expansion of this airport, there will be bigger planes and more planes, therefore obviously the risks will increase and the technology that we are now installing today is to mitigate that risk.”
The radar is comprised of a control shelter and a rotary radar antenna situated at the top of a galvanized steel structure and protected by a radome, situated on the other side of the runway. Since the birth of civil aviation in Belize in the 1930s, Coye says air transportation has contributed positively to the economy’s growth.
Jose Coye
“Well certainly as we look around us, we can see how it has helped us in trade, we have seen how it has helped us in tourism, it has helped us in cultural exchange, it ahs helped us socially, and I think the expansion of the airport is testimony to the demand for more air transportation for the country.”
The centre and radar console are valued around five million dollars. The equipment was purchased from and installed by INDRA, a European company through the efforts of the COCESNA Belize Regional Office. Jacqueline Godwin for News Five.
According to the Department of Civil Aviation, within the next few months the radar service will be complimented with the installation of an instrument landing system that will enable air traffic controllers to provide precise guidance instructions to aircraft approaching the runway.
