Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Madysson Ritter | MSgt Daisha Rollins and MSgt Alberto Padilla, both air traffic controllers from the...... read more read more
In October 2021, José Enrique Soto Cano Air Base made history when it became part of Honduras’ brand new Palmerola International Airport (PIA). PIA was developed on part of the area occupied by Soto Cano Air Base, headquarters of the U.S. Joint Task Force Bravo, located about 45 miles north of the capital city, Tegucigalpa. The airfield will now serve as an $18 billion economic gateway for Honduras and will continue to allow humanitarian and disaster relief operations from Soto Cano.
The 612th Air Base Squadron’s Operations Support Flight (OSF) has worked closely with authorities at PIA for over five years to prepare for the new operations at this $210 million airport. In the final quarter leading up to the grand opening, weather, air traffic control, radar maintenance, and airfield management personnel from OSF finalized the transition from a sole military airfield to being a joint use airfield that handles military and civilian traffic from around the world.
Throughout the construction process, OSF members adapted and persevered while maintaining mission capabilities at Soto Cano AB. In August 2021, the airport was in its final stages when a catastrophic earthquake hit Haiti. The airfield management team worked day and night with the PIA construction team in order to ensure that the airfield was useable to deploy aircraft and equipment in support of Haitian citizens. The close relationship that OSF had developed with the PIA construction team allowed the airport construction projects to continue while simultaneously allowing humanitarian support and disaster relief efforts to be expeditiously carried out.
In addition to adapting to the Joint Task Force-Haiti mission, the OSF team came up with solutions to adapt to other construction projects that created challenges on the airfield. Soto Cano AB was without any airfield lights for most of 2021. The team implemented a process for a contingency light set-up in case the need arose to land aircraft at the airfield at night during an emergency or to support humanitarian missions. The 53rd Operations Support Squadron leant the 612th ABS a phantom lighting system, which was used to provide runway lighting. The team also installed 100 temporary International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) approved reflective wands that attached directly to the existing out-of-service lights, which provided an effective and temporary solution to the taxiway lighting outage. The temporary lighting improved night visibility for all aviators and ground traffic transiting the areas. Runway lighting has since been installed by PIA authorities; however, the reflective lighting on the taxiways in the military ramp areas will remain in place until these lights are repaired.
The OSF team held several meetings at Soto Cano AB in order to establish operating agreements with PIA authorities. In addition, air traffic controllers from OSF travelled to Toncontin International Airport in September 2021 in order to assess operations in their tower and radar facilities. Toncontin Airport was the former international airport located in Tegucigalpa prior to PIA opening. All international flights from Tegucigalpa now fly into PIA and are controlled by the Honduran Civil Aviation Authority (AHAC). By meeting with air traffic controllers in Tegucigalpa, OSF air traffic controllers gained valuable knowledge that prepared the transition from U.S. military controllers handling all Soto Cano AB air traffic to the Honduran government controlling all military and civilian flights. OSF air traffic controllers now work in a liaison capacity and aid AHAC with the safe and efficient flow of Department of Defense aircraft. AHAC is currently operating out of a temporary tower on the airfield and U.S. air traffic control liaisons are operating out of the old Soto Cano AB tower. Once construction is complete on the permanent tower in the Spring of 2022, U.S. and Honduran air traffic control personnel will work side-by-side in the new tower and radar facility.
There have been several other changes to OSF roles and responsibilities since PIA opened. Prior to PIA opening, airfield managers were responsible for all flight plans and airfield activities. PIA authorities now have control of all aspects of the airfield except the ramp areas that are utilized by DoD and Honduran Air Force aircraft. The OSF Airfield Management team is now solely responsible for maintaining these ramp areas and processing DoD flights. The weather team maintains the role of providing weather services in support of the 1st Battalion, 228th Aviation Regiment as well as transient DoD aircraft while PIA provides weather services for all civilian aircraft. The radar maintenance team will continue to maintain the DoD-owned air navigation and radar surveillance systems until PIA completes the installation of their equipment later in 2022.
The final stage prior to welcoming the first civilian international flight was completed November 26th, 2021. PIA hosted the first of many annual Major Accident Response Exercises (MARE). These exercises prepare airfield emergency responders in the event that there is an aircraft incident at the airport. OSF air traffic controllers and airfield managers aided with the movement of emergency responders. The exercise was key to PIA receiving critical international airport certifications. Finally, on December 11, 2021, at 1:45 P.M., Spirit Airlines Flight NK1314 from Houston, Texas was the first commercial aircraft to land at Palmerola International Airport.
| Date Taken: | 03.01.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 03.02.2022 13:09 |
| Story ID: | 415612 |
| Location: | HN |
| Web Views: | 406 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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