SANTO DOMINGO - The Government of the Dominican Republic, through the Airport Commission , ordered Aeropuertos Dominicanos Siglo XXI ( AERODOM ) to pay 5 million dollars for the damages caused after the electrical failure last Sunday at the Las Américas International Airport ( AILA ), in addition to assuming the associated costs for passengers and airlines.
The report, following the power outage on Sunday , September 21, which affected more than 40 flights , recommended a structural intervention of the AILA electrical system with the aim of increasing its reliability and preventing similar incidents in the future, with the corrections to be made within three months .
The Commission also instructed Aerodom to submit electrical plans and a detailed official report of the incident within 48 hours . Furthermore, it ordered the strengthening of crisis management protocols to ensure faster responses in emergency situations.
In an extraordinary meeting, the agency learned of the preliminary report that attributes the failure to the collapse of the medium voltage cell-disconnector of the north terminal and the unavailability of the backup circuit.
The commission based its decision on " strict compliance with the contractual obligations established in article 8.2.2 of the Renewed and Reformed Concession Contract
supply of electricity lost from the national grid or from the airport's internal emergency generators
He specifies that the airfield and control tower never stopped operating thanks to alternative systems, while emergency generators north terminal to be reactivated in stages .
The Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation (IDAC) certified that the airfield was never out of service and that the control tower and runway continued to operate thanks to an alternate system , which allowed aircraft takeoffs and landings to remain available.
emergency generators were used exclusively to power the north terminal and gradually restore essential operations , after several hours of interruption.
The team that prepared the preliminary report was made up of technicians from the Ministry of Public Works and Communications (MOPC), the Ministry of Energy and Mines, the Airport Department, the Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation (IDAC), the Specialized Airport and Civil Aviation Security Corps (CESAC), as well as external advisors.
The Airport Commission directly blamed AERODOM for what happened, stating that the failure originated at a point after the electrical power installations, specifically in a transmission cable that feeds the north terminal .
