The simulator for better ATC training

Commercial aviation has experienced sustained growth in recent decades, while technologies, like simulator training, have been going forward in all areas of our lives. Although the global Covid-19 pandemic has seriously affected global aviation, this sector will gradually recover activity levels as countries can reopen their borders and the movement of people returns to normal levels.

Air traffic management’s mission is the dynamic and integrated organization of air traffic and airspace. So that it is operationally safe, efficient and economical, through the deployment of infrastructures and continuous service provision in collaboration with all the parties involved. It is a system where the human factor becomes important; it is the air traffic controllers and pilots who control complex systems in real time. In addition, when there is a crisis moment they must be able to manage it flexibly and adaptively with quick decisions.

The high levels of congestion in the airspaces of some of the major aeronautical hubs in the world, where we can highlight New York or London, have inevitably led to the search for new technological and regulatory tools to optimize capacity of managing these airspaces and preparing professionals for new challenges.

Control Tower ATC training
The effective training of ATC’s is essential to face new challenges of the most congested hubs

In this way, voices have emerged in the industry that are in pro of the implementation of automated air traffic control systems. It can reduce human participation to its minimum. It is important to highlight that without the technologies introduced to date, managing the most congested airspaces would be practically impossible.

But although automated air traffic control is a valid option for certain airspaces. Advances should also be based on efficient instruction and training systems for students in order to reduce the chance of human error.

In the training of air traffic controllers, same way as pilots, it is important to be able to recreate identical scenarios to the real ones. In order to reproduce the real situations and problems to be solved. Simulators like Flight Safety or Epic Flight are very efficient and effective solution, since they position the student in front of the desired scenario without assuming risks and minimizing costs.

In what other aspects are simulators a great tool in the training of air traffic controllers?

Traffic management and action planning

The student can learn to identify the aircraft. Both by their type and by their operator (airline) and knowing the performance of each one of them. This will achieve an increasingly efficient management of traffic flow. Maintaining an adequate spacing between the aircrafts, using tools like the radar screen.

Based on current traffic and anticipating income aircrafts to prevent possible overload occurrences. The student can take appropriate actions to prevent or lessen the situation. Developing a critical sense, trains decision-making, corrects errors and manages to continuously increase the safety standard in operations.

Application of control procedures

Using simulators, the student knows the particularity of airspaces, such as their classification, their configuration and their specific procedures. Manage traffic in such a way as to avoid prohibited or restricted areas inside your area of responsibility. It is also very important to learn the occupied runway concept, as well as the management of traffic in flight and on the ground to and from the active runway.

Situational awareness

Situational awareness is the understanding of objects, events, people, systems, interactions, environmental conditions and any other type of factor that can affect the development of complex and dynamic human tasks. In simple terms. The individual “knows what is happening to be able to determine what he should do” or also “what one needs to know in order not to be surprised”.

Intuitively, we can also define the concept of “being one step ahead of the situation”. Or have the answers to any of the following questions: What is happening? Why does it happen? What will happen from now? What can I do now?

In complex and dynamic jobs such as air traffic control, the loss of situational awareness can be caused by the stress or workload, in terms of volume and complexity. For this reason, simulators are a great tool to recreate scenarios and circumstances of high workload and stress. Just so that the student learns to manage resources to avoid the loss of situational awareness.

Communications and radiotelephone techniques

Through communications training, the future air traffic controller develops skills to communicate clearly and concisely. This way, ensuring that all transmitted data has been correctly received and understood. Also practices and improves his tone and volume of voice. While using standard phraseology for aeronautical communications and looking for the best possible pronunciation.

Concentration and alertness in a realistic environment

When the scenario and the challenges are presented in a realistic environment, you could get a great approximation of the student response in a real situation. Therefore, it is possible to determine easily and effectively the aspects in which the student presents the appropriate performance. In which more work must be done to raise the level and reach the expected standard.

About the Tower! Simulator in this learning process

The most modern and effective methods of education are those that place the student in the most similar scenario as possible to the real one. Where you are challenged with specific situations and problems. Innovation in this way is not only a technological affair, it is also an innovative method that allows adults to learn in the most effective way, as children do, while playing.

Tower! Simulator 3
Tower! Simulator 3 will introduce you a very realistic look

If we talk about representing more realistic scenarios (airports), like the latest version of the famous Microsoft Flight Simulator, we can say that Tower! Simulator 3 will do it. In addition to the tools known from the previous versions, such as voice recognition, this new version will incorporate amazing real world look of the airports.

Whether you are playing at being an air traffic controller or using it as a tool to improve your knowledge and skills for your ATC career, the level of realism that you will find, would mimic very closely the look and feel of real world operations in the air traffic control field. Believe us when we say, if you can’t be there, feel there.

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