New flight simulator at Edmonton airport to help meet pilot training demands

A new flight simulator opening at the Edmonton International Airport (EIA) is slated to help meet the demand for pilot training in Canada and abroad.

Canadian North airline's new Boeing 737NG Full-Flight Simulator, located within the new 30,000-square-foot Alberta Aerospace Technology Centre, will alleviate the need to send pilots to other locations for training they require to earn or maintain proficiency levels.

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"This simulator is really important to the region, not just the airport, but the entire region and Canada's north," Myron Keehn, EIA's president and chief executive officer, told CTV News Edmonton at the formal launch of the new facility.

"Access to pilot training is a global challenge, and having a CAE Canadian North executive flight centre partnered together with us to bring this technology to Edmonton is huge."

The simulator, the only one located in western Canada, gives pilots reliable access to a variety of training, including that for flight deck procedures and a variety of flying scenarios.

"It will simulate absolutely everything a pilot could possibly see in the real world," said Aaron Speer, Canadian North's vice-president of flight operations.

Those scenarios include emergencies and an array of bad weather from rain, snow and thunderstorms.

"We can simulate any system malfunction," Speer said. "The pilots spend 40 to 50 hours training in the simulator so that when they go out on the flight line to fly our passengers, they have quite literally experienced anything that could possibly go wrong."

The simulator manufactured by CAE is owned by Canadian North, which says it will now have the capacity to meet all its Boeing 737NG training requirements, but is available for use by other pilots and airlines. 

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nav Sangha