Pilot/ATC Interaction Day

On the 10th of May the AOOA held our annual ATC/Pilot Interaction day at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport. Pilots arrived at the domestic terminal at 11am sharp to a warm reception from members of GATCOZ. We had an excellent educational tour of the Air Traffic Control departments including Area Control, Approach and the Tower. Pilots were able to ask ATC personnel questions and see first hand how air-traffic in Zambia is managed and controlled.

Following the excellent tour we re-assembled at the Niner Juliet Hangars for an excellent lunch of fresh Fringilla wors rolls. Brief speeches were delivered from the Vice President of the AOOA Richard Jeffrey and Senior Air Traffic Controller Donald Mulenga who both reiterated the critical need for constant cooperation and communication between our two organisations to ensure safer skies for all.

Once lunch was digested, many ATC personnel were given the chance to experience radio communications from the pilot perspective when AOOA members took them up for a circuit or two around KKIA. Our thanks to ZACL for supporting the event by waiving the passenger tax fees for these flights.

It was a great day of interaction that will only make the aviation industry in Zambia safer for all. Of course these events require a large amount of organisation and we are grateful to Lindsay Campbell and Andrew Woodley for the time they invested in making sure all the logistics worked. A very warm vote of thanks also to Rob Stacey and his team at Niner Juliet Logistics for pulling out all the stops to host us at their hangar. Finally thank you to all the pilots who took part and of course to GATCOZ for their participation in this excellent event.