CIVIL AVIATION TRAINING CENTRE (CATC), TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

BRIEF HISTORY 

The Civil Aviation Training Centre was established in June 1963, as a joint project between the United Nations Development Program and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a specialized agency of the United Nations, initially provided instructors while the building and other facilities were supplied by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago.  The Centre’s first Chief Instructor was the late, Mr. L. J. Murphy, an ICAO Civil Aviation expert from the United Kingdom.

The Government of Trinidad and Tobago provided overseas training for the local personnel and in 1972 accepted total responsibility for the administration of the Civil Aviation Training Centre through its first local Chief Instructor, Air Traffic Services, the late, Mr. Samuel Bhagwansingh.  At that time, ICAO withdrew the last of its personnel from the project.  The CATC formed part of a functioning unit of the then Civil Aviation Division and from 1^st October, 2003 the CATC became a unit of the Trinidad and Tobago Civil Aviation Authority, which took over all the responsibilities of the Civil Aviation Division.

FUNCTION

The role of the Civil Aviation Training Centre is to provide training in the field of Air Traffic Services and other areas within the Civil Aviation industry in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean.

To this end students from the following countries have been trained:

Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname, The British Virgin Islands, The Cayman Islands, The Netherland Antilles, The Turks and Caicos Islands and Trinidad and Tobago.

From its inception in 1963 to this time, the Centre has conducted ‘Ab initio: training courses in Air Traffic Control, Aeronautical Information Services, including Automatic Message Switching Techniques and Supervisory Management.  In addition the CATC has been doing refresher and developmental training for controllers from Trinidad and Tobago, and accommodates international courses for Caribbean and South America in the aviation field from time to time.                                                                                                                 

Up to this time, the following courses were conducted.

In recent years the Trinidad and Tobago Civil Aviation Authority saw the need to venture into other areas in keeping with its role and in collaboration with the University of Southern California conducted the following courses:

LOCATION

CATC was first located at Long Circular Road, St. James, on the outskirts of the city of Port of Spain.  In 1992, it was relocated to more spacious accommodation and surroundings at Mausica Road, Mausica, and approximately 1.5 Km south of the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway and much closer to Piarco International Airport.

STAFF

The CATC has been staffed by Instructors from the Trinidad Air Traffic Control staff who were themselves graduates of this Training Centre and have acquired extensive experience with our International Airports.  They were exposed to “Instructor Techniques” training at an International Institute.

 A Manager heads the staff at CATC, which comprises of a Chief Instructor, ATS Instructors, a Secretary and a Clerical staff.

 Some of the overseas institutes utilized in the training of Instructors include:

Federal Aviation Administration Academy, Oklahoma City, U.S.A.;

 The Royal Air Force School of Education, U.K.;

The College of Air Traffic Control, Hurn, U.K.;

 The International Aeradio Limited, Bailbrook College, Bath, U.K.;

The Eurocontrol Institute of Air Navigation Services in Luxembourg;

International Aviation Management Training Institute, Montreal, Canada.

The University of Southern California, Los Angeles;

IATA Training Institutes in Montreal Canada and Miami Florida