New IAF course gives air traffic controllers their first taste of the tasks performed by pilots, and vice versa
Date: 30/09/2012, 2:53 PM
Author: Yuval Tzuk and Lilach Gonan, IAF Website
The IAF recently introduced an innovative training course bringing pilots and air traffic controllers together. The course, the first of its kind, gives both the pilots and the controllers a taste of the other's job, shedding light on the relationship between the two jobs.
Representatives of air traffic control units throughout Israel and crew members of the Golden Eagle Squadron recently completed the first three-week session together.
"We presented them an aerial picture; we explained to them what we see and what we don't see," said Cpt. Roy, commander of the course and an air traffic controller. "Furthermore, the squadrons experienced the role of controller for themselves."
For their part, the controllers left their familiar surroundings and climbed into the cockpit of an F-16 fighter jet, where they had the experience of flying in the planes they usually direct.
This was the first time the course has been held, and it seems that it will not be the last. "The course contributed much to the personal familiarity between us, and it helped us to better understand what each other's job is, what his or her abilities are, and what he or she can and must give the other," Cpt. Roy said. "One of the important points that arose in the course was our shared brotherhood as soldiers. The controller participates in all of the activities that happen in the air; he or she suffers with every failure and is part of every success."