Chinedu Eze
Caverton Helicopters has achieved another milestone with the qualification by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) as an official full flight simulator operator, using the Thales Level D, Reality H full-flight simulator product for the AW139 helicopter.
With this achievement, Caverton will fully embark on the training and retraining of pilots in the certified equipment.
In a joint statement by Caverton Nigeria and Thales of France, they stated that the facility is the first Reality H system operational in Africa, and operated by Caverton.
“Developed in France, the AW139 Full Flight Simulator offers pilots an immersive experience with extremely faithful reproduction of their operational missions, to train in complete safety for a variety of complex situations (adverse weather conditions, helicopter failures and emergencies), that could occur in the real flight operations, “the statement read.
“It offers pilots high-level training opportunities with the most comprehensive and versatile equipment available on the market. Having been approved by EASA, the Caverton Aviation Training Centre, located within the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, Nigeria, is now able to commence commercial training operations for AW139 helicopter operators based in the African continent and beyond, ”the added.
Caverton Helicopters said it was excited to have reached this significant milestone of the qualification of the company and the simulator.
“We selected the Thales Reality H product because of its state- of-the-art features and the fact that we could modify key aspects to suit our operating environment in Africa. With this new training centre now operational, Caverton will provide state-of-the-art training, including initial type rating, recurrent training and proficiency checks, for offshore and onshore missions as well as military and special operations. There could be no better time to experience this pioneering achievement for Caverton. This has opened the door to more flexibility in African aviation overall, and for us, it is a huge achievement, ”Chairman of Caverton Offshore Support Group (COSG), Aderemi Makanjuola stated.
