Landing gear passes test

PAPUA New Guinea’s new instrument landing system (ILS) worth K3 million, is a step closer to being installed at Port Moresby’s Jackson Airport after successfully passing its factory acceptance test (FAT) in the United States last month.
The civil aviation development investment programme (CADIP) engineer Haggai Zeriga said the FAT tests for distance measuring equipment, localiser and flight path all proved to be in good working order.
“We took four days to conduct the test. The suppliers were impressed with how fast and precise we conducted the test because our principle technical officer Eli Buko was well versed with the instruments,” Zeriga said.
He said project contractor Selex Systems Intergration was now in process of shipping the instrument to Port Moresby for installation next month.
“The ILS project to replace the existing ILS which is more than 10 years old, is on track with installation of the new ILS planned for commencement next month and completion in December,” Zeriga said.
He explained that the ILS was vital to passenger and aircraft safety.
“When there is foul weather, the cloud base is very low and pilots cannot see the airport runwa, the equipment will guide the approaching aircraft to descent through the clouds to a level by which the pilot should be able to see the runway and approach to land,” Zeriga said.
The ILS replacement project is part of CADIP’s overall K2 billion airport improvement programme over nine years which aims to achieve upon completion a much safer and more efficient all-weather access to air transport services.