"The fire in the UPS unit was quite surprising news for us too, because the maintenance effort is done regularly," Angkasa Pura II President Director Tri Sunoko said.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Following the blackout in Jakarta International Airport Soekarno-Hatta on Sunday, December 16, the airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II blamed the 15-year-old Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) unit that is to be replaced in 2013.

According to the Angkasa Pura II President Director Tri Sunoko, the Uninterruptible Power Supply unit that was burnt on Sunday (16/12) was 15 years old, and will be replaced with a new unit in January 2013.

"The fire in the UPS unit was quite surprising news for us too, because the maintenance effort is done regularly," he said.

Sunoko also said that the existing power-supply unit should have been replaced with a new UPS in March 2012, but the acquisition of the new unit had taken some time, and it would now be installed in January 2013.

The Director General of the Civil Aviation Ministry is currently auditing the acquisition. However, the burnt UPS unit has been backed up by a UPS from another airport, because the backup UPS at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport also does not work.

It was previously reported that the airport`s Uninterruptible Power Supply unit that powered computers controlling scout planes at Soekarno-Hatta Airport had caught fire on Sunday (16/12) at 16:55 hrs.

The fire caused interference with the automatic guiding system at JAATS (Jakarta Automated Air Traffic System) for 15 minutes. Therefore, the number of landings and takeoffs at Soekarno-Hatta was restricted to prevent any unwanted developments.

At 17:10 hrs, the power supply to the scouting system at the Jakarta Automated Air Traffic System was finally restored. However, due to the long start-up period, it took several attempts for the radar to return to its normal operation at 18.05 hrs Indonesian time.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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