Shape up or ship out

The 4 May incident at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), where a sport utility vehicle (SUV) crashed into a walkway and killed a 29-year-old man and a five-year-old girl, went beyond human error and should not have happened in the country’s premier gateway.

The narrative limits it to being a freak accident, but the priorities of the new airport owner must be looked into to establish accountability. The wayward vehicle crashed through a bollard, with initial investigation pointing to driver error that resulted in the carnage.

Airport operator New NAIA Infra Corp. (NNIC) assumed the concession contract in September 2024, vowing to make the NAIA among the most modern in the region and removing its stigma as one of the world’s worst airports.

Not long after the management took over, criticisms surfaced about fees being raised without infrastructure improvements being promptly delivered.

Structural weaknesses, like inadequate railings or bollards, contributed to the tragedy.

The gruesome accident happened at Terminal 1 which was designed for six million passengers annually but now handles far more, exacerbating its wear and congestion.

The crash occurred curbside at the departure level, which has bollards to separate and protect pedestrians from vehicles, but these proved not strong enough.

An adequately installed “crash-rated bollard” should not budge on impact, suggesting that those installed were either of substandard design or were poorly installed.

A strong barrier would have prevented a fast-moving vehicle from reaching the people.

If the bollard was merely decorative or shallowly anchored, it would collapse under impact, thus allowing the vehicle to plow through the pedestrians.

Bollards are there to stop vehicles “dead on the spot,” according to a safety engineer. Proper bollards, spaced closely and embedded deeply, would likely have reduced the severity of the mishap, potentially saving lives.

A review of NNIC’s P170.6-billion modernization plan under its 25-year concession contract shows it prioritizes improving escalators, toilets, air conditioning and baggage handling.

Structural rehabilitation, including curbside barriers, was not listed among its short-term projects.

While the crash occurred less than eight months into NNIC’s tenure, critics said that immediate changes were expected to complement the sudden fee hikes, such as parking charges that were increased from P300 to P1,200 overnight and terminal fees that are set to be raised in September.

Airports are targets for terrorism, which behooves NNIC to examine security weaknesses at NAIA.

A vehicle-ramming attack — like those that occurred in Nice in 2016 and London in 2017 — could involve a truck at high speed, far exceeding the SUV’s, to maximize casualties in a crowded area like the NAIA’s curbside.

Deeply embedded, high-strength barriers are standard at modern airports, such as Singapore’s Changi and London’s Heathrow, to counter vehicle attacks.

Terminal 1’s open curbside, with heavy pedestrian traffic and limited vehicle screening, is vulnerable.

The Bojinka plot, which was a planned terrorist attack in January 1995 to assassinate Pope John Paul II, already exposed NAIA’s security gaps, and a 2018 US Department of Homeland Security notice criticized NAIA’s failure to meet International Civil Aviation Organization standards.

NNIC’s ongoing security upgrades, such as explosive detection and biometrics, focus on passenger screening, not vehicle barriers.

A driver’s error causing deaths and injuries in an international airport is unheard of and is unacceptable, considering the rising volume of travel.

NNIC should consider the crash a wake-up call to improve airport security standards. It must improve safety at the airport first before rushing to break even in its 25-year contract with the government.