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took place in Germany and was done by the manufacturer TFC Käufer, who specialises in developing this type of simulator. It took eight months. It was important to obtain an exact replica of a Luxair cabin setting,” says Laurent Donteri. Everything is identical and not only in appearance. All the emergency equipment can be found at their usual places and there
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“Being able to evolve in such a realistic setting increases the quality of training.” Captain Laurent Donteri Deputy crew training manager
are even fully operating taps, ovens and coffee machines. The only thing here that you won’t find on board a real plane is the training control booth. From here, the instructor can monitor the “students” and create all the situations a crew must be able to face. The mock-ups are extremely realistic. Using a touch screen, the instructor can change the window views, simulating anything from a take-off on the runway to a landing on water, in night-time, broad daylight or dusk, under blue sky or through a rainstorm, with an engine on fire, and so on. It is also possible to have smoke come out of any place inside the aircraft and to warm up a wall in order to see if the origin of the fire is detected correctly. The simulator’s fire extinguishers (which are not halons for environmental reasons but contain air) must then be used accurately in order to contain the incident. Sensors detect if this is the case. If not, smoke reappears and “fake fire” returns. “The smoke and fire courses take place recurrently,” says Laurent Donteri. “After the initial training, Luxair’s flight attendants have to redo a course every year – which is more often than regulation requirements – and our pilots do it every three years.” However, this is far from the only course that takes place in the CEET simulator. First-aid training, which formerly took place
Les personnels navigants de Luxair s’entraînent régulièrement aux évacuations d’urgence. Luxair’s flight crews regularly get training in emergency evacuations.
in a classroom, can now also be done in a realistic environment, just like on-board service, handling of unruly passengers and door training (arming, disarming and checking a door). If there is a need to complete the session with theoretical training, the instructor can proceed easily, as the simulator is also equipped with a large screen. Training in safety procedures and emergency evacuations (recurrent for all flight crew members) is just as impressive. The simulator can recreate any circumstance imaginable, offering impressive real-life situational exercises. There is even the authentic sound of the evacuation slide being deployed. “We must prepare our crew for any eventuality. What we do is both training and assessment of knowledge and reactions,” stresses Laurent Donteri. From the outside too, the CEET closely resembles one of Luxair’s Boeing 737. When it arrived to Cargolux’s Training Academy, it was carefully placed at the exact height of a real plane so evacuation training by the slide and wing could be done in true-to-life conditions. It took one month to connect everything necessary for the simulator to fully function. The CEET finally welcomed its first “students” aboard this February and they were quickly taken by it – despite being constantly kept on their toes by its unpredictable behaviour. “Being
Le simulateur peut traverser un ciel bleu, une tempête de neige, une pluie battante… The simulator can go through sunny skies, snowstorms, pouring rain…
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able to evolve in such a realistic setting undeniably increases the quality of training,” says Laurent Donteri. In the future, third party airlines will also be able to rent the CEET and take advantage of all the possibilities it offers.
01/03/17 15:03