THROUGH the efforts of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade and Civil Aviation chief Jim Sydiongco, the country has acquired and installed its first modern 3D aerodrome tower simulator at the CAAP Training Center in Parañaque City.
The state-of-the-art, computerized simulator is a great improvement from the way our airport tower controllers and operators were training before. They used to solve problematic air space situations and airport traffic conditions with the use of paper and miniature planes before. Now they are aided by computers and digital technology.
This development once again showed the Department of Transportation’s commitment to upholding aviation safety in the country, a management policy of Secretary Tugade. The aerodrome tower simulator features a 315-degree horizontal field of view and designed to aid traffic controllers in training, testing, and maintaining proficiency in handling aerodrome control operations without risking property or lives.
‘It is good news that the CAAP is ramping up its training of personnel … through the acquisition of modern tools of aviation and long hours of skills building.’
Meanwhile, we note that the security of our air spaces about the land and water territories is a shared responsibility of the military, specifically the Philippine Air Force, and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).
Recently, the Air Force beefed up its air assets with six new turboprop warplanes, strengthening the fighting capability of the 15th Strike Wing. The Air Force will no longer have to rely on the aging fixed-wing aircraft in the fleet, aside from the FA-50 which the Armed Forces used in liberating Marawi City.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the new planes, called the Super Tucanos, will complement the FA-50 and the nation can count on support planes in different parts of the country at any one time.
It is good news that the CAAP is ramping up its training of personnel, with the full support of Secretary Tugade, through the acquisition of modern tools of aviation and long hours of skills building.
All these will be much appreciated by the majority of Filipinos who know they will stand to gain from these developments, in terms of more secured Philippine skies and fewer aviation accidents.
