Fri, May 30, 2008
DOT's Peters Presents Three With Certifications
And we thought the rush hour shift
in the cab at EWR was a tough gig. Three Iraqi nationals
became Baghdad’s first tower-certified air traffic
controllers this week, after completing months of instruction.
At a ceremony on May 29, the Director General of Iraq’s
Civil Aviation Authority Sabeeh Al Shebany and US Secretary of
Transportation Mary E. Peters presented the controllers with their
certifications at Baghdad International Airport’s air traffic
control facilities.
"This is yet another sign of how Iraqis are taking charge of
their own destiny," said Peters, who is visiting Iraq. "While the
job of these controllers will be to help direct the skies, their
mission will be to help guide this nation to a new future."
An additional 22 controllers are expected to complete their
training and receive certification over the coming weeks and
months. The Secretary, who was joined on the airport tour by FAA
Acting Administrator Bobby Sturgell, said a Federal Aviation
Administration-led team oversaw the "rigorous" training program
needed to support the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority now it
controls the nation’s airspace above 29,000 feet.
Peters noted training the controllers was part of a broader
effort to help Iraq re-enter the international aviation community.
She said personnel with the US Department of Transportation have
been working since 2003 to help upgrade Iraq’s airports,
civil aviation regulations and air traffic control facilities.
The Secretary visited the Baghdad Area Control Center to see the
new equipment installed at the facility, using funds provided by
the Iraqi government and the US Agency for International
Development, she added. The Center has already handled more than
30,000 civil aviation fights, and that number is expected to grow
once Iraqi Airways begins taking possession of new aircraft later
this year.
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