Hyderabad: Graduation ceremony of 109th ATM & AL (B) course held at Air Force Academy

Hyderabad: To mark the successful completion of the 109th Air Traffic Management & Air Laws (Basic) Course [ATM & AL (B)], a graduation ceremony was held at Air Traffic Control Officers Training Establishment (ATCOTE), Air Force Academy in the city on Thursday.

Air Marshal B Chandra Sekhar, Commandant, Air Force Academy graced the occasion as the Reviewing Officer (RO).

ATCOTE is a premier training establishment of the Indian Air Force (IAF) equipped with state-of-the-art simulators to undertake the training of officers from the Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air Force, Indian Coast Guard, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and officers from Friendly Foreign Countries in the field of Air Traffic Services (ATS). The Integrated Radar & 3D Visual Flight Rules Tower Simulator (IRVTS) is one of its kind ‘Make-in India’ projects available at the institute, a press release said.

The ATM & AL (B) Course is a six-month long rigorous instructional course aimed at imparting ab-initio training on Surface Movement Control, Aerodrome Control and Approach Control functions to young commissioned officers to become qualified Air Traffic Controllers. The pattern of the course has been recently restructured for the early availability of controllers in the field. A total of 20 IAF officers were part of the course.

Later, Air Marshal B Chandra Sekhar addressed the gathering and congratulated the graduating officers. The Air Marshal acknowledged the critical role of Aerodrome controllers as the nodal agencies for coordinating and implementing the procedures such as Flexible use of airspace, Search and Rescue, Unlawful interference etc., especially at Joint User Aerodromes.

He also emphasised the need to keep abreast with the latest developments in the field of Air Traffic Services.