Jul 12, 2005, 08:38
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: July 12, 2005
CONTACT: Kori Blalock, 202-293-7277

WASHINGTON, DC— The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) plans to stop around-the-clock technical staffing of a 30-year-old radar, which requires daily maintenance according to the union that represents FAA technicians.

The Pico del Este Long Range Radar (LRR), which is remotely located at the top of the Caribbean National Rainforest in Puerto Rico, is responsible for airspace in the Caribbean. In addition, it contributes to the monitoring of approximately one million square miles of airspace and 3,000 miles of coastline extending from Virginia to Texas through the Southeast Air Defense Sector. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) relies on the radar to identify potential drug trafficking into the United States.

Currently, the radar operates under 24-hour coverage by four FAA technicians who are charged with performing daily maintenance on the radar. After October 1, the four technicians will be reassigned to San Juan’s tower, which will leave this aging radar two hours away from a maintenance technician in the case of a problem.

“The decision to remove all staff from this radar is completely negligent on the part of the FAA,” said Dave Spero, regional vice president of Professional Airways System Specialist (PASS). “The depletion of all staff at Pico del Este radar will lengthen response times to crises since technicians will be hours away from the site.”

“Pico del Este is the last place they should take this action. We’re talking about a 30-year-old radar that services not only the flying public, but two government agencies,” said Tom Brantley national president of PASS. “This is yet another example of the FAA trying to cut corners by completely abandoning the preventive maintenance model, where technicians regularly inspect equipment, in favor of a ‘fix-on-fail’ approach to critical air traffic control.”