Case Study

AEM and West Point Engineering Help Airport Boost Lightning Safety

Earning a reputation for world-class safety

Overview

The Subic Bay International Airport in the Philippines set its sights on becoming “the premier general aviation hub in Asia for corporate business jets.” To realize that vision, the management team from the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority outfitted the airport with navigation and safety systems that are on “par with the best airports in the world.”

But the airport wanted to do even more to manage one particular threat: lightning. From 2006-2021, lightning killed an average of 105 people per year throughout the Philippines. Outdoor workers, such as airport ground crews, were among those most at risk. Consequently, the airport authority turned to AEM’s lightning safety solutions and our local partner, West Point Engineering Supplies.

MEET WEST POINT ENGINEERING SUPPLIES

West Point Engineering works with international partners like AEM to supply world-class engineered solutions to various customers in the Philippines, including power plants, oil and gas companies, mining operations, and airports. Their solution areas include meteorology, hydrology, and lightning safety, to name a few.

After previously working with our Earth Networks brand to successfully design and install a lightning safety solution for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (the largest airport in Manila), West Point Engineering knew AEM was the right partner to provide a lightning safety solution for Subic Bay International Airport.

Mark Anthony Adviento,

Sales Director / VP of Marketing

“As PAGASA, our national weather service in the Philippines, uses AEM’s Earth Networks lightning detection, it is essential to airport operations. That’s why the Manila and Subic Bay airports have chosen this solution as part of their continuous advancement toward safety.”

Overcoming lightning-related challenges

The Challenges

In the absence of a reliable lightning detection and alerting system, the airport lacked a way to precisely and consistently determine when it was safe to continue ground operations. This exposed them to several critical challenges:

1. Undue risk to crews and passengers

Without the ability to see the exact location of lightning relative to the airport, outdoor operations were more likely to continue beyond safe limits.

2. Unnecessary downtime

The airport was also more prone to issuing false alarms that put an unnecessary halt to ground operations.

3. Lack of operational continuity

Without the ability to reliably anticipate lightning-related disruptions, it was difficult to plan ahead and assign personnel to alternative tasks.

Sferic Maps® and Sferic Siren

The Solution

To solve the challenges facing the airport in Subic Bay, Westpoint Engineering worked with AEM to develop a solution comprised of two main ingredients. The first ingredient was AEM’s proprietary software for monitoring, analyzing, and alerting stakeholders to lightning risk. The second was AEM’s Sferic Siren outdoor alert solution. Of course, every great recipe needs a secret ingredient. In this case, that ingredient was our Earth Networks Total Lightning Network®. With these components now in place, the airport is benefitting from:

Visualizing lightning risk

The airport operations team can now watch on the map as lightning approaches the airport. They can see forecasted storm trajectories, and they can see precisely when lightning comes within a distance that would be considered unsafe.

Operations leaders can use Sferic maps to track lightning in real time.

Automated alerting

They now have the ability to set up custom automated text alerts to notify airport employees when conditions become unsafe.

Improved message visibility

With Sferic Siren, the airport now has visible strobes and audible horns to ensure that alerts are recognized immediately and that they do not get missed.

workers installing lightning siren and strobe light

Timely return to work

The airport now has the ability to send an “all clear” signal when a storm has passed and it is safe to resume outdoor activities.

Airport achieves safer, more efficient ground operations

Now that the team at Subic Bay International Airport has the right lightning safety tools, they know exactly how long they can keep crews working safely and when it is safe to return to work. They can anticipate and plan for downtime without extending it any further than necessary. So, the airport can operate even more safely and efficiently.

The Components