02/07/2020 - 20:01
- Clarín.com
- Society
Flights that operate both at the Ezeiza international airport and at Aeroparque, registered delays this afternoon due to the activation of the security protocol, in both air stations, for when there are storms with electrical activity.
The alert went off, airport sources told Télam, with a difference in time at the two airports, which determined the cessation of any ramp movement until the electrical activity ceased.
In Ezeiza, the alarm began shortly after 2 pm and affected 24 flights that recorded a delay of between 30 minutes and two hours in some cases, until it began to normalize shortly after 4 pm, although the impossibility of loading luggage during the period that the alert lasted, also delayed those services scheduled for schedules in which the activity could develop normally.
In Aeroparque, meanwhile, the alert was intermittent, with spaces in which the activity was enabled on the runway and times when it was restricted again, which also caused delays in some cases of an hour and a half, although the alternation allowed many services could moderately meet your schedule.
By 18 o'clock, the activity in both airports was developing normally, but the sources warned that, depending on the prevailing instability, new interruptions are not ruled out during the rest of the day.
The early detection of electrical activity in airports aims to ensure the safe development of activities in the operating platform and was implemented in the middle of last year in most of the airports in the country.
This Program is based on electrical activity detection devices called Outdoor Alerting System , which contain two types of safety alert; the yellow alert is applied within the 15 km radius of the operating area, while in the red alert it is activated when there is electrical activity within the 5 km radius.
The system emits a yellow alert when it detects significant electrical activity 15 km from the airport and sends messages to emails and SMS to cell phones of pre-selected operational personnel with functions within the premises.
In this case it is considered that the situation could lead to a short-term red alert, so the staff works under warning of the total cessation of the activity.
If electrical activity is detected within a 5 km radius from the airport, the system issues a red alert, also notifying the operating personnel, and activates siren and strobe warning lights in the open operational areas of the aerodrome and stops all types of track activity
After 10 minutes without registering another electrical activity, the alerts cease and the system is once again in permanent surveillance.