by Nick Delgado

Guam - Two inspection teams with the Federal Aviation Administration are on island this week inspecting the facilities at the Guam International Airport Authority. FAA Western Pacific Assitant Regional Manager Chris Diggons is part of the federal delegation taking a closer look at operations at the airport.

He told KUAM News, "We are here to look at the airport as far as runway safety goes. Looking at the signs and marking procedures to see if there is any kind of risks involved in the operations. And address them while they are there, rather than being reactive we are being proactive."

Diggons says they began their visit Wednesday and will continue to tour the runway and tower facilities through the night. He says they haven't found anything of major concern just yet. "So far nothing it's a very good airport, great management we had a lot of good hospitality and open communications, now we are just going to go out there and take a look for ourselves," he said.

Diggons says the inspections are conducted annually by either local or regional. He says they did notice some improvements made to the signs and markings on the runway that the airport lacked during a previous visit. He says they will wrap up their visit Friday and discuss their findings with local officials, explaining, "We'll take concerns from anybody if there is somebody with a safety concern out there we want to hear about and address it if it requires to be addressed. We create a action item that is used to develop a plan to address and mitigate the risk."

GIAA executive manager Mary Torres says this is a routine inspection by the FAA. She adds another federal team concluded their review Wednesday for what's called a "part certification inspection". Torres does admit that the preliminary report for this inspection team shows some concerns such as cracks throughout the facility.

She said, "We don't expect - and I think its unreasonable to expect - one hundred percent in everything there is also minor finding but they are in fact minor findings and most will be rectified within 30 to 90 days but nothing clearly that affects the safety or whatnot."

While the FAA was not here to discuss the ongoing plans for the Tiyan Parkway Project, Torres says they are currently conducting an environmental assessment for the parkway. She admits they are currently in the hardest part of the process, noting, "We clearly have a plan going forward that's concurred by the FAA, so its now a matter of Guam to take ownership of this and work with the executive office and the Legislative Branch to find solid and reasonable solutions and that's really where we are at."

Torres says while they are working to get the construction of the Tiyan Parkway started soon, she admits they must overcome the tedious work of ensuring the plans meet all required regulations.