Secunderabad, March 16: To mark the successful completion of the 144th Air Traffic Surveillance Services (ATSS) Course, a Graduation Ceremony was held at Air Traffic Control Officers Training Establishment (ATCOTE), Air Force Academy Dundigal, Hyderabad 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 training for 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.
The ATSS Course is a three-month long, mid-level course for training qualified Air Traffic Controllers in the usage of radar. The course equips these controllers to maintain expeditious and orderly flow of air traffic. A total of 17 officers comprising of 11 officers from Indian Air Force, 3 from Indian Navy, 1 from Indian Coast Guard, 1 from HAL and 1 officer from Nigerian Air Force were part of the course, informed a press release from Press Information Bureau (PIB).
Later, Air Marshal B Chandra Sekhar addressed the gathering and congratulated the graduating officers. The Air Marshal acknowledged the critical role of Air Traffic Controllers in military aviation. He reiterated the importance of Air Traffic Services in supporting the economic growth of the country, without hampering the operations of the Armed Forces. He emphasized on the need to facilitate usage of restricted airspace for expediting traffic, essentially with large number of IAF airfields being opened to civil aircraft operations.