An airplane engulfed in flames scorches across the farmland horizon, trailing smoke as it plummets toward an airport runway—leaving those inside the control tower with seconds to react.
“There’s a mayday situation,” barks air traffic instructor Karina Vasylenko, compelling a second aircraft to pull up.
A code-laced back-and-forth between tower and ground control follows. Emergency vehicles race onto the taxiway and the space becomes clear for landing.
“Runway two-seven is yours for the emergency,” confirms a fellow instructor.
The simulation, which played out Tuesday on a bank of screens the size of bus ads, is one of many scenarios to be thrown at the first crop of students at CAE Inc.’s new air traffic training centre in Montreal….