Photo By Master Sgt. Perry Aston | An Iraq Civil Aviation Authority air traffic control student moves flight progress...... read more read more
BAGHDAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Iraq – At midnight, Sept. 1, the U.S. Air Force handed over the Kirkuk sector of airspace, 15,000 feet and above, to the Iraq Civil Aviation Authority.
The Kirkuk sector of airspace consists of the northern 1/3 portion of Iraq, which had been previously controlled by the Air Force out of Kirkuk Air Base.
“Tonight marks a very historic occasion,” said Maj. Jamie Flanders, Air Component Coordination Element-Iraq airspace planner, minutes after the changeover took place. “The U.S. forces in Iraq have handed over the Kirkuk sector flight level one-five-zero and above to the government of Iraq.”
Up until now, the Iraqi government controlled all airspace above 24,000 feet, or flight level two-four-zero. Everything below had been managed by the Air Force at air traffic control facilities in Kirkuk and Balad.
Continuing on with the transfer, the rest of the Iraqi airspace above 15,000 feet is scheduled to be turned over on Nov. 1.
“We will accept two more sectors and at that point, we’ll be in control of 15,000 feet and above, nationwide in Iraq,” said Gary Brittain, Washington Consulting Group program manager. “Continuing next year, we will assume the rest of the airspace and work all airspace in Iraq.”
The Iraqi air traffic controllers work hand-in-hand with U.S. airmen and American contractors from WCG to prepare them to be able to provide safe service for Iraq’s skies.
Washington Consulting Group is a company based out of Maryland and contracted by the Iraqi Government -- formerly by the U.S. State Department. They have been hired by the ICAA to assist with the airspace transfer and to prepare their controllers to assume safe control of Iraq’s airspace.
“I’m a little bit excited about this job because it’s a professional job,” said one Iraqi air traffic control student. “You need to be focused all the time. I hope we can do a lot for the ICAA so that the ATC can develop through the years and we can get the job done.”
The job looks to be exciting for controllers in training, but it is also difficult to watch more than 400 aircraft traveling through the Iraqi skies, up from about 60 or 70 just two years ago when Tom Samples began working here as an ATC instructor.
“This is probably some of the most difficult air traffic to control in the world because there’s no back-up radios, there’s no back up landlines,” said the retired Federal Aviation Administration controller. “We’ve had American controllers come over here that couldn’t work this traffic. We had to send them home.”
The students also recognize the complexity of the job, but they are proud to be doing something meaningful for their country.
“Being air traffic control is a difficult job,” said a female student at the Iraq Civil Aviation Training Institute at Baghdad International Airport. “But we have to deal with our job in a good way, because we are responsible for many peoples’ lives on the airplane. So we have to be open-minded. We have to be able to deal with the critical situation in a good manner, in order to avoid a collision or a critical situation. We have to be proud of ourselves.”
Training these young Iraqis to take over their nations skies has been a remarkable task that Maj. Flanders has been proud to be a part of to help build up the Iraqi airspace.
“Looking around here, what an awesome, great thing to be involved in,” said Maj. Flanders, a native of Keller, Texas. “You’ve got U.S. Air Force, American contractors and Iraqis building a better air traffic control system.”
| Date Taken: | 09.01.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 09.03.2010 07:16 |
| Story ID: | 55656 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 113 |
| Downloads: | 4 |
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