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Hyderabad to have most advanced simulator
Hyderabad is all set to become a major training hub for air pilots. The Central Training Establishment (CTE) of Air India here will soon acquire the advanced flight simulator, ATR71-600, for training passenger pilots. The ATR71-600 is being acquired from France at an estimated cost of Rs 65 crore and will be the most advanced simulator in the country.
“Come October, we will be having one more simulator for training on ATR aircraft. We expect it to be operational by December,” said Captain Amitabh Singh, Executive Director (Training), CTE.
Apart from the cost of Rs 65 crore of the simulator, the CTE would have to spend an additional Rs 2 crore for construction of the building and other facilities related to the simulator.
As of now, the training facilities for pilots at the CTE include three simulators at the headquarter campus in Hyderabad, while there are four at the Mumbai campus.
The simulators at Hyderabad are of Airbus A320, while the four in Mumbai are of Boeing 737, 777, 787 and 747. Incidentally, Air India does not have any ATR aircraft in its fleet. The training on the ATR71-600, therefore, will be provided to pilots from Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India and pilots from other aviation companies. Trained pilots, who have to take a refreshment programme every six months at the CTE, might also utilise the new simulator.
According to officials, only two out of tree Airbus A320 simulators are operational. “The training centre has stopped using one of the A320 simulators due to technical issues,” an official said.
The state-of-the-art simulators, equipped with 3D hydraulic system, shows various destinations to pilots, apart from training them to handle various real-life emergency situations.
