Trainee Air Traffic Controllers have been gaining experience of the cockpit environment through an initiative using CASA-certified flight simulators.
In a world first for ATC training, Airservices Australia's Learning Academy has been working with Flight Experience in Melbourne to provide trainee controllers the ability to better understand operations from the pilot’s perspective.
As part of their training to become controllers, trainees will now undergo a Flight Deck Orientation and Familiarisation Course in a Boeing 737 flight simulator.
The intent of this new training is to better equip trainees with first-hand knowledge of the cockpit workload and pilot resource management. Understanding the implications of ATC instructions to flight crew is expected to enhance the ability to provide an appropriate response to in-flight emergencies.
“Educating our Air Traffic Controllers about what happens in the cockpit from the pilot’s perspective will result in a greater understanding for how our controllers deal with not only emergency situations, but also general day-to-day events,” says Steven Clarke, Head of School at the Air Traffic Services Learning Academy in Melbourne. “It is our mission to continually improve our training programs, which essentially enhance flight safety in our region."
ATCs have traditionally been on familiarisation flights in jump seats, but these have been in sterile cockpits where no interaction with the flight crew was possible below 10,000 feet.
“Taking a step further and putting the controller in the pilot’s seat in a simulator which can be paused, and has the ability to demonstrate anything from an engine failure during take-off, to flying through a major thunderstorm, creates a much more productive learning environment” said Clarke.
According to trainee en route controller Rob Morris, the training has proven invaluable.
"The exercises we participated in at the Flight Experience B737 simulator gave us valuable insights as to what happens in the cockpit of a commercial airliner during normal and abnormal operations,” he said.
“By observing the pilots during specific flight phases we could also apply context to their communications with ATC. This will help us improve our projection of how pilots, and consequently aircraft, will react when we give them an instruction.”
Flight Experience offers the general public the opportunity to a fly a Boeing 737 fixed-base flight simulator in over a dozen locations around the world, including major cities in Australia. Aviation enthusiasts as well as experienced pilots seeking refresher training take advantage of the high definition visual systems and state-of-the-art technology.