Air Traffic Controllers at Airways in New Zealand are undertaking vastly improved refresher training through the use of the organisation’s world-renowned air traffic control simulator.
The simulator allows controllers’ ratings to be refreshed in an environment exactly replicating their airfield tower, with seasonal variations such as fog ensuring controllers’ training is up to the minute.
To meet the CAA licence requirements for Low Visibility Operations, controllers are required to undergo refresher training prior to the fog season. At Airways, controllers are updating their ratings in a simulator, which provides controllers with a view the same as the actual view from their tower.
Sharon Cooke, Airways Head of Training, says that the simulator allows controllers to immerse themselves in a real situation without actually being on the job.
“Our Total Control simulator allows us to train controllers with a level of realism that we would never be able to attain other than on the job, in the physical tower. Controllers feel as if they are controlling real aircraft, in real situations, and they can repeat those situations over and over until they get them right every time,” she says.
