Latest / The Captains Council Podcast / Temas de aviación en la rendición de cuentas 2026
Transcript
- Capt. Francisco Díaz: Good evening, welcome to the first episode of the Captain's Council You can find on YouTube and other podcast both in audio and video. Tonight we Captain Cristian Jimenez, member of the Captain's and Engineer Ewin Sanchez, to the Captain's The topic we are going discuss today is the accounts of President Avinader, on February 27th, where he three aviation issues. The first will be about the new space port in the province of Pedernales, in Oviedo. That is why we have invited Engineer Sánchez. And then we also about the second issue, has been the number of tourists. The country is breaking records with that. Capt. Christian Jimenez: . Capt. Francisco Díaz: y hablaremos con el capitán Cristian Jiménez sobre cómo puede adaptarse el control de tránsito aéreo a este flujo masivo de personas entrando y saliendo. Y en el tercer tema hablaremos de los radares meteorológicos, ya que el presidente también tocó eso y fue inaugurado el tercero ahora en el aeropuerto Las Américas la semana pasada. Bueno, comienzo por introducir a los colegas. ⁓ Cristian Jiménez, miembro de, como dije, del Consejo de Capitanes. is captain of the United Airlines in Boeing 767, he has 26 years with this company, has flown a long list of planes from 727, 777 and others, and Ewing Sanchez, aerospace professor of the University of InTech in Santo Domingo and precursor of first Dominican So... Capt. Christian Jimenez: you Capt. Francisco Díaz: Buenas noches caballeros y gracias por estar aquí con nosotros. Capt. Christian Jimenez: Francisco, thank you for your time. think people would you to introduce yourself too. Because they want to know who you are and what you do. Besides, this the who is programming your posts. Capt. Francisco Díaz: Ah, gracias. Bueno, Francisco Diaz. Soy capitán en el 747 en Atlas, Atlas Air. Llevo allí 13 años. Antes de eso estuve con la gente de la TAM, egresado de la Universidad de Embry-Riddle con licenciatura y maestría en ciencias aeronáuticas. Algo que me faltó decir fue, en la presentación de los colegas, que nuestras opiniones son personales. Ninguna representa nuestro empleador o la opinión de nuestro empleador. start with the subject of the space Give us your opinion on what the president and what we to start a space in the country. Ing. Edwin Sánchez Camilo: Well, roughly speaking, it is a promise and a very ambitious one because the president spoke of being launching from here to 2028 and basically this is an industry that is starting from scratch. From scratch in the sense that it would be first time we are talking about having a launch not from scratch in the sense that we have done anything. We already have a long trail in the country trying to small things that go from the more political legal so that people internally, in government way, the benefits of space issues and in society we have continued to little around it. of offering things so that Dominican society more or less understands what the benefits of space We are doing through the Dominican So talking about a launch topic when there is no infrastructure, and we are to the word infrastructure here in every sense of the word, is quite complicated because is simply you come and put something and start launching tomorrow. Here we still have to do lot of work before we say that we are ready to launch. Capt. Francisco Díaz: And I think that a regulator to establish the regulations, that this new industry should follow. You have raised before, and we have in different articles, the need for a space And when hear that, they surprised. How? The Dominican needs a space Tell us a little bit that. Why is it needed? Ing. Edwin Sánchez Camilo: Sí, claro. That's correct. Look, Before anything, having a space is important because space issues come in exponential a short ago, so to speak. Before, understood that space were exclusive to government but with the entry and opening of commercial then the space to commercial So now, with more sense, we an agency that is regulatory. A company that can say these are the rules of you are fulfilling them, you are fulfilling them, and if you are fulfilling them, then these could be the sanctions. A company that can say we need these objectives and we need to them in this way, so that things do go out of hand. Latin America is foreign to subject of space agencies. In South America, almost all countries in South America have their own In Central America, Panama and Costa Rica have been trying to basically, where same point. And the Dominican has tried to promote this space agency making the clear that a space agency needs to governmental, because it is a decision-making an entity that is going to regulatory and so And the is already participating directly with a regional the Latin American Caribbean Space Agency, ICES. By December of last year, had been reported that the Dominican Congress ratified signatory of that agency and now in February officially in Mexico it was we are not are not foreign to this, a while we have working and we have already had and covered different different paths and with the arrival then of a commercial element with much more reason the need to have a regulatory Capt. Francisco Díaz: So, thinking about state, the ideal would be to create this regulatory first, right? That this regulatory establishes the requirements for commercial of the space and then the companies that want to themselves, like this project, do it through that regulatory right? That would be ideal. Ing. Edwin Sánchez Camilo: Yes, ⁓ This university has this career, this technological has this career, etc. etc. And that everyone pushes towards same goal that is beneficial for the Republic of Capt. Francisco Díaz: Claro, y ahora que tú mencionas esa parte del personal, si puedes hablarnos un poco de qué carreras y qué universidades se tienen en República Dominicana con el tema espacial. Capt. Christian Jimenez: you Ing. Edwin Sánchez Camilo: Yes, we at INTEC have a career aerospace engineering. Since about 2008, I know that I have been working with aerospace engineering students since 2013. And it a career that has come in growth because remember that we not work in space but also in aeronautical part. So with those new companies that are arriving in the Dominican that are being installed in the aeronautical the also train in everything that has to do with... with the aeronautical department that could provide with There other universities, can't the names, but I think that the University of the Caribbean has a in aeronautical and eventually the same University of the Air has a license in aeronautical again, we are not necessarily alien to aeronautical So we, in the spatial and as I said, it's a very interesting the same career, the same students are seeing the needs that the Dominican is having and they are preparing in the different areas when they their academic Capt. Francisco Díaz: As part of my public opinions, I write a weekly aviation in the newspaper Diario Libre. And in several of these articles that I have talked about with you, I have talked about subject of space, mainly the subject of debris when these rockets explode, have been happening, the Starship, this from SpaceX. Capt. Christian Jimenez: you Capt. Francisco Díaz: the danger that this is for aviation in our region. I remember when that happened, we talked and we said, well, you told me, that's very high and maybe the pieces don't affect us. And of course, it's always been. We are in the Caribbean and when NASA launches from Cabo Cañaveral, That always been the situation. But with these huge leaving Texas and passing right next to the country, with these explosions we have seen that there are debris that falls in our region and that are dangerous for aviation. So, with this issue of creating something in the Dominican for launches, and according to the president and the company he mentions, which is called Launch On Demand, Capt. Christian Jimenez: . Capt. Francisco Díaz: The space rocket They talking about up to 40 month. It's a great What has an impact, what has an important on air Because you have to close airspace where the projection of that launch And in case of explosion, have to prohibit lot of movement. Capt. Christian Jimenez: Wow. Capt. Francisco Díaz: So I ask you, besides the economic development and human in terms of the importance of that regulator and that agency, and the interaction with other regulators such as the IDAC. Ing. Edwin Sánchez Camilo: Well, of course, that's I you that after the introduction of the commercial to the entire space career, all this has become much more open and much more dynamic. In end, the rockets that launched are rockets that have their possibilities of failure because no machine is perfect. No how you try, how much you some point the probability of failure will reach you. And we saw that case of Starship twice that exploded during the ascent and the whole issue of the If need have a regulator that can explain to the aeronautical what those errors and what would be the potential of the gravity and what would be the probability of effect on the Dominican because we have talked that at the moment in which they pass through the Dominican they are quite high. and what could happen is that the debris disintegrates in the atmosphere there was a moment where I think it in Trucks and Cakes, to a part of the debris, I I'll and tell you the potential of failure, of error is there and we have to know how to now if we have a launcher in the Dominican it will depend a lot on the launch capacity of that platform Capt. Francisco Díaz: Yes, Ing. Edwin Sánchez Camilo: and we will have to a very close with the IDAC to be tell it as a space that this will be happening while that rocket is inside the atmosphere, competes with the IDAC as a regulator. that is flying and when it leaves the atmosphere it will compete with the different agency that will fall behind. This is topic that grows necessarily and leads to different entities having to a good degree of control and communication. Capt. Francisco Díaz: And then, this topic to the IDAC, the president mentions the increase in the number of tourists arriving to the country. A great achievement for the country, more than 11 million visitors. At one point he says that we are one of the only countries in the world where for each inhabitant of the island or the country there is a visitor, that is, is enough. So this means a significant in air right? and connecting it with this subject of space rockets, is truly the Dominican Republic organized and prepared to handle that amount of air and now add space So there we enter the aeronautical the pilots. Christian, who has lot of experience flying around the world, as said, big and has experimented with air and has interacted with Capt. Christian Jimenez: . . Capt. Francisco Díaz: with controllers from many parts of the world. What is your about the capacity of the IDAAC for air traffic Capt. Christian Jimenez: Well, Edwin, you can correct me, but I think the president's are too positive. In two years, just talking about logistics. ⁓ Ing. Edwin Sánchez Camilo: the Capt. Christian Jimenez: What this going need? We are talking about an agency that basically has to be independent. That can make independent about IDAC and the government. Because we talking about two industries that are going to compete for the aerospace industry. And at the end of the day, everything is based on money. Ing. Edwin Sánchez Camilo: to. Capt. Christian Jimenez: in sense that airlines want to in more flights to make more money. The companies that want to their satellites want to their satellites to make more money. And concern is that no one is focusing on the safety of the entire the aerospace that is to more shared now. That at this very moment, Francisco and I know that There are enough controllers to support the number of planes entering the country. So are taking time, they are taking measures that unfortunately are cutting safety in my opinion. Because are maintaining a level of Only with the planes. If not even mention the rockets. Of we talking about the president says two years ago, but between the we that this will happen in two years and if it it will happen in the right way because obviously have to do studies, have to analysis of cost, of safety, of emergency, all of this is already my mind, I impossible that this will happen in two years Capt. Francisco Díaz: And I would add that, and Edwin can correct me, that from what I understand, most the launches, if not all, are made to east, correct? So placing a launch port in Pedernales would be launching in the direction where most of the airports and the Dominican Republic's are. So, for example, we, what, of course. Ing. Edwin Sánchez Camilo: See you later. Capt. Christian Jimenez: Of it's to Santo Domingo, Santiago, Puerto Plata, La Romana, Punta Cana. Capt. Francisco Díaz: Punta Cana. Exactly. So, we who live in Florida know that when Cabo Cañaveral closes the airspace for the launches, affects the Atlantic the Atlantic coast of Florida, the east of Florida. So what is done is that the routes to the planes and most are moved to west, either to the center of the state of Florida or to the west of Cabo Cañaveral. So, as Cabo Cañameral is on the east the traffic is not that There is certain delay. I was reading that it affects about 35 or 40 flights, when they launch. And the size of the airspace depends on the type of rocket, the size of the etc. But the Dominican Republic in Pedernales, if you close all the east of Pedernales, are closing the country. So... Ing. Edwin Sánchez Camilo: Mm-hmm. Capt. Francisco Díaz: It would be interesting to how they think about doing that in a moment where at the same time, as Bian Christian we are competing for every little of space to put more planes and more tourists. What do you Edwin, about all this? Ing. Edwin Sánchez Camilo: Yes, indeed, the issue of the release from Pedernales is because as Pedernales makes a cone you have a space to launch to the east where technically speaking you would not pass with a rocket above anywhere inhabited however if you are affecting the routes that will go to the different airports that are to the east of Pedernales that taking away Santiago are the most important of the Dominican Republic and that then also Capt. Christian Jimenez: But. Ing. Edwin Sánchez Camilo: It is affected because the launches, we work with window of opportunity depending on the type of launch that you are to What means is that I a rocket today and I have a of opportunity of X number of minutes in which the different controllers have to be doing the necessary deviations because we do know at what time that window will be the launch and once the window closes everything would technically return to normal. Now if the window is executed, also what will happen during that launch, where are we going to the deviations, where are we the planes in hold, what will happen then in case of emergency. But again, being in Pedernal what is estimated is that by the time it more or less the area of Santo Domingo is at a fairly significant that is, would not necessarily affect the planes that come in approach or exit. but it would affect all the routes that are passing in high altitudes. Capt. Francisco Díaz: Claro Claro Capt. Christian Jimenez: Mm-mm. Capt. Francisco Díaz: Well, and falling into another issue of equipment that the president mentions, the president mentions the meteorological That is topic that Edwin and I discussed. I think it was in CDN, we together. I to Maricela, exactly, and we talked about that three or four years about the need for those radars. It's good that the country is making the purchase of the radars. In my last week's I talk about how that has politicized a little, because Ing. Edwin Sánchez Camilo: Yes, and it Amaria Sely and Capt. Francisco Díaz: They have made a parafrenalia to open each of those radars, but they have connected the radars to the air traffic These are radars from the company Via Sala, from Finland, represented in the country by the Dominican company Airport Team Solutions. There three radars, the first in Punta Cana. in 2019, installed in 2022, model WRM200, then the Puerto Plata WRS300, and now the one Las Américas, which the same as the Puerto Plata. The idea is to a triangulation of the national with these three radars and to be to identify the meteorological for aviation. This is where the government has deviated a little, because Via Sala only makes radars for for for aeronautical Not for Indomit, or for the 9-11, or for the fire or for agriculture. No, no, no, no, no. They are radar for aeronautical They can be used in these other institutions, but their primary is aeronautical And that, we have time saying, we have to connect it to the air traffic have to train... Capt. Christian Jimenez: . Capt. Francisco Díaz: to the air traffic in their use and have to create traffic management when there is bad weather. Christian, who operates a lot from the Newark can tell us that when is bad weather in New York and you ask for authorization, it has happened to in Kennedy that they make a huge of very different from what I asked for because are moving the traffic. away from bad weather, right? And that is done with the meteorological that's how the storms where they and the route So in the Dominican we have nothing of that. We have been pushing IDAC lately to publish the SIGMET, which are the dangerous meteorological that the Center They didn't do it before, now they are doing it. We have been pushing them to do that. We had several meetings with the director, ⁓ Igor Rodriguez, about these issues. We sent them a written proposal on how these radars used for pilots and dispatchers and he had a good reception. So we hope that these applications will on how these radars Cristian, Ewin, do you any comments on the subject? Capt. Christian Jimenez: Well, for me, I understand that is not logical, if the main is the security of aviation, to make the purchase of these radars and not use them for the reasons that they were bought and not activate them because basically you are flying blind, is, it is more on an island like the that climate changes from hour and strong and unexpected And for aviation it is very necessary to the correct information so that can make your flight correctly and to be to ask for the amount of fuel necessary to avoid the storm or if you have to wait until the storm passes to be carry in the necessary fuel And without those radars, we are flying blind, without complete having the equipment purchased. Because you tell me that bought the 19 and installed the 22. I I don't think they two years to install a equipment like that, and they haven't trained the equipment to use it yet. That is very sad it investment and we are not getting the benefit for which the team I implore that the team get the energy and train and use the teams as they should be used. a injustice to the national and international a injustice to the Republic and a injustice to the passengers who come to Linaera, trusting that we the systems in position to give us a safe of what is going happen in the area. ⁓ I would say that I am surprised, because I left the when I 18 years but I come and a lot and unfortunately we Dominicans talk lot, but it is like the issue of chocolate, a lot of puma but not a lot of So let's hope that the age is put on the line and that Ing. Edwin Sánchez Camilo: T. Capt. Francisco Díaz: As you. Capt. Christian Jimenez: that they use the radars as they should because it is an injustice to and international Capt. Francisco Díaz: Ewing, what are you Ing. Edwin Sánchez Camilo: Yes, I agree 100 % with Cristian and with other conversations we have had around this, the importance of having a radar technology on land for these things because probably people say, there are satellites that can observe the climatological however, the satellites look from top to bottom and the satellites have a level of penetration in the cloud that does reach the complete cumulus and for that we the radars that look from the better security, second a better experience for both airlines and for the customers, for those who fly in a recreational but also to create a precedent of a know-how of use when we start launching rockets because we need We to know what is happening in the entire layer. If there are very strong in a point of a higher layer, the rocket does launch due to security issues as So is important that the precedent of training Capt. Francisco Díaz: Claro. Excellent. Well gentlemen, we have reached the end. The truth is it has very satisfying for me, first episode. We have touched on topics that think are positive for the country and we have made our recommendations. That is the mission of the Captain's Council and this podcast will always be aimed at that, to look for solutions, to analysis and to... to ways to develop and our staff can grow more more. Thank you you, to Christian and Edwin for being here and to those who listen to us and see us. Subscribe, both on YouTube and other platforms, Apple or Spotify, and always listen to our podcast. Thank you very Ing. Edwin Sánchez Camilo: Gracias, Francisco. Capt. Christian Jimenez: Thank you, Francisco. my niece says, give us a