Runway lights restored after outage halts night arrivals as Jackson takes helm at CPA

Runway lights at the Francisco C. Ada–Saipan International Airport have been fully restored, allowing normal night operations to resume after a lighting failure last Jan. 28 forced a temporary suspension of nighttime arrivals, according to Commonwealth Ports Authority newly elected CPA chair Bart Jackson.

The outage, which halted all nighttime arrivals, stemmed from what appeared to be a maintenance-related failure that rendered the runway lights nonfunctional, Jackson told the media during a recess in the CPA board meeting last Jan. 29 at the Pacific Region Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Training Center.

“Clearly, you can’t operate an airport at night without runway lights,” Jackson said. “So we had to temporarily halt all arrivals until such time as we were able to effect that repair, and it was done.”

Jackson said CPA crews worked through the night to restore the system and complete additional preventative maintenance.

“Our staff did a great job working 24 hours, working through the night to make sure that the lights were back on,” he said. “As of this morning, they are back on, we are fully operational, and we’re confident this will not happen again in the near future.”

During the same board meeting, CPA executive director Esther Ada confirmed that the runway lights were restored late Wednesday night following emergency repairs that required outside assistance.

“This emergency expenditure of funds is needed because we had to acquire the services of an external contractor to come in and assist our crew,” Ada said. “It also required the purchase of some supplies that we needed to make that repair. So as of late last night, the runways are working.”

Ada said the cost of the emergency work is estimated at $10,000, though the final amount will not be known until billing is complete.

“We won’t know exactly how much we expended until we get the billing from the external contractor,” she said.

CPA board vice chair Antonio C. Cabrera noted that similar incidents have occurred in the past and stressed the importance of regular inspection and maintenance.

“Just to let everybody know that this is not the only time that this thing happened. It happened a long, long time ago, and it was rectified right away. And I wanted to emphasize again that maintenance and inspection of those things should be performed so that we can avoid this kind of situation.”

Jackson questioned whether the emergency repairs fully addressed the underlying issue.

“I’m wondering whether or not we’ve really fixed the problem or we’ve put a Band-Aid on the problem and really need to do more,” he said.

Airport manager James Deleon Guerrero told the board the work constituted a permanent repair, with additional improvements already planned.

“As of 5 in the morning, we did a permanent repair,” Deleon Guerrero said. “We replaced about 1,000 feet of cabling that was burnt out.”

He said another 3,000 feet of deteriorating cable will be replaced as part of upcoming preventative maintenance.

“We do have a spare CCR, which is like a transformer that powers the lights, so that’s a backup in case of an emergency,” Deleon Guerrero said. “We’re ready for it.”

When asked by Jackson whether the remaining work could be handled internally, Deleon Guerrero replied, “Yes, in-house. Everything in-house, sir.”

The Jan. 28 incident was followed the next day by a closely divided CPA board vote that saw Jackson elected chairman by a 4-3 margin, ushering in a new leadership lineup as the authority grapples with continuing financial pressures and tourism-related challenges.

Following the vote, the board retained Cabrera as vice chairman, elected Carline B. Sablan as secretary, and named Eusebio M. Manglona as treasurer. Other board members include Dolores P. Kiyoshi, Vincent N. Camacho, and Juan S. Salas.

In his first remarks as chairman, Jackson said his year on the board highlighted the urgency of restoring stability to both airport and seaport operations.

“We're in a bit of an economic hole and [we need to] begin the work of getting the ports up to speed, getting the airports back on track, and getting arrivals coming in and working hard to make sure that the ports operate as efficiently and profitably as possible,” he said.

Jackson also emphasized that the board must take an active oversight role.

“It’s important that the board be very well informed—that we’re not a rubber stamp,” he said. “Each board director needs to make good decisions, and to do that, you need good information.”

Jackson said he has encouraged CPA’s standing committees to provide more detailed briefings on seaport operations, airport facilities, and personnel matters to support better decision-making.

Looking ahead, Jackson stressed the importance of interagency cooperation, particularly with the Marianas Visitors Authority, as the CNMI works to revive tourism.

“The islands need to work together,” he said. “We’re in a bit of a tourism mess, and the only way that we can recover is by all of us working as one Marianas team.”

While CPA does not handle destination marketing, Jackson said its role at the airport places it at the front line of the visitor experience.

“We deal with the airlines, we deal with tour agents,” he said. “Anything we can do to make that process efficient and service-oriented, and to work with MVA and the hotel association, we want to be part of that effort.”