Decline in Tourism to
Costa Rica's "Gold Coast"
Cuba Agrees To
Restore Diplomatic Ties with Costa Rica
Indefinite
Taxi Strike Action Called For Monday
Mandatory Driver
Education Proposed For Lousy Drivers
GSM Network Interruptions Over the Weekend
Pricesmart
Throws Out Plastic Bags
Liberia Airport Gets
New Fire-Extinguishing Units
Liberia
Airport Gets New Fire-Extinguishing Units
(InfoWebPress) — Several airports around the
country will benefit from seven new
U.S.-made fire-extinguishing units valued at
$5.4 million. Three of them will be located
in Liberia’s Daniel Oduber International
Airport, three more at San Jose’s Juan
Santamaria International Airport, and the
other one at the Tobias Bolaños Airport in
Pavas, San Jose. The new units will allow
the Juan Santamaria airport to reach the
highest category (10) regarding fire safety.
The firefighting units were acquired through
a contract entered into by the Costa Rican
government and the Oshkosh-OACI company
(associated with the International Civil
Aviation Organization). The units are of the
Striker model, with four of them having
capacity for 3,000 gallons of water and the
remaining three being able to hold 1,500
gallons of water each. Two of the seven
units have an extension arm that allows them
to inject water and foam into large
aircraft, such as Boeing 747 and Airbus
A340.
Additionally, these vehicles carry special
equipment such as video cameras, infrared
cameras (in the two units with extension
arms), portable infrared cameras that allow
to scan the inside of plans to detect heat,
portable hydraulic “jaws of life,” chemical
foam, compressed air cylinders,
troubleshooting software, stretchers, safety
vests, rescue equipment, and others.
To guarantee the adequate operation of the
equipment, both the firefighter personnel
who will be assigned to the units as well as
the mechanics working on them received
training during 15 days from experts made
available by the manufacturer.
This year also, a new radar control system
became operational in the country, for which
the Central American Air Navigation
Corporation (COCESNA) contributed $5.45
million. The system is expected to improve
air safety and expand the air space covered.
This new equipment allows the connection of
radar heads located at the Juan Santamaria
airport, Mata de Caña in Guanacaste, Managua
and Bluefields (Nicaragua). This allows for
integrated flight plans in the region, which
facilitates the exchange of precise
information from and to airplanes as they
fly over Nicaragua, even before they reach
the Costa Rican air space, which wasn’t the
case with the old equipment.
Likewise, thanks to the expanded coverage
and availability of more information, the
risk of accidents caused by two airplanes
flying in the same route is reduced, as the
new system provides additional data about
aircraft, including speed, trajectory and
other details.
The new system is also capable of
integrating data and voice and storing them
digitally. This is crucial when doing about
accidents and other incidents, as
synchronized video and audio can then be
accessed — something that didn’t exist
before.
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