APPLICABILITY OF THE MINIMUM TRAINING REQUIREMENT.

This section first explains the complexities involved in determining an Initial Training minimum training requirement and then describes who this minimum training requirement shall apply to.

ATSEPs work on a wide range of CNS/ATM systems and equipment, each of which requires training to achieve specific skills that will eventually lead to operational competence.

However, the ways in which ATSEP functions and/or tasks are defined and assigned to individuals, will vary from one organisation to another.

These differences in the way the ATSEP job is characterized makes it impractical to prescribe a “one-size-fits-all” minimum training requirement that will satisfy all the various different organisational arrangements and, at the same time achieve a relevant and valid range of competences for all.

What is agreed is that all ATSEPs achieve a minimum required level of operational competence that allows them to perform safety related tasks with the specific equipment or systems they will be working with. These competencies apply to all ATSEPs, irrespective of the organisation they work for, their location or the composition of their functions. This competence is achieved at the end of System/Equipment (S/E) Rating Training. Initial Training is the phase prior to S/E Rating Training; therefore the minimum training received during Initial Training will not be sufficient to permit operational competence. It will however, be sufficient to prepare a learner to start the S/E Rating Training.

Furthermore, the minimum training requirement, as described in this section does not encompass all the possible roles and responsibilities that engineers and technicians may eventually be in involved with. It is acknowledged that in some organisations, ATSEPs may have additional responsibilities that are outside the scope and applicability of this Specification.

For the purposes of this Specification, the term ATSEP is used to describe “engineering and technical personnel undertaking operational safety related tasks”, that is to say, personnel who operate and maintain ATM equipment approved for operational use.

ATM equipment approved for operational use is defined as all engineering systems, facilities or devices that have been operationally released to be used either by airspace users (e.g. ground navigation facilities) directly, or are used in the provision of operational air traffic management services.

The minimum training requirement, contained within the Initial Training, shall apply to all learner ATSEPs. This minimum training requirement (and how it is put into practice) is defined in the following section.

ATSEP MINIMUM TRAINING REQUIREMENTS.

The minimum training requirement is the minimum that learner ATSEPs shall satisfy.

The following sub-sections describe the minimum training requirement for the Initial Training i.e. Basic + Qualification Training.

In some instances, particularly where the learner ATSEPs have previously obtained technical or engineering-related qualifications (e.g. engineering degrees and/or other diplomas), the objectives contained within this Specification need not be re-taught. If it can be verified and/or demonstrated that a learner ATSEP has already satisfied the performance requirements of the appropriate objectives, then these need not be retaught. The verification and/or demonstration of performance requirements shall be recorded.

Basic Training.

The training objectives contained in the Basic Training syllabus are common to all learner ATSEPs undergoing Initial Training.

Completion of all Basic Training objectives is not a pre-requisite to starting Qualification Training. Basic Training objectives shall be satisfied by the end of Initial Training.

Nonetheless, for pedagogical reasons, it is recommended that the sequence of Basic then Qualification training is respected.

The basic training is composed of the following modules that compose the GAELICAM ‘CNSATM.INITIAL’ course:

• Module 1: Introduction to ATM (Air Traffic Management).
• Module 2: Familiarization with ATC (Air Traffic Control).
• Module 3: Aeronautical Information Services (AIS).
• Module 4: Meteorology.
• Module 5: CNS services.
• Module 6: Communications (C).
• Module 7: Navigation (N).
• Module 8: Surveillance (S).
• Module 9: Data processing (DP).
• Module 10: Monitoring and control of CNS/ATM system.
• Module 11: Maintenance procedures.
• Module 12: Energy and air conditioning.
• Qualification Training.

The minimum training requirement is applied to learner ATSEPs during Qualification Training by determining which equipment and system/s the ATSEP will ultimately be working with. ‘Domain’, ‘Subject’ and ‘Topic’ columns in the next Table ‘ ATSEP/Controller/Pilot Training Itinerary’ represented as follows are going to be used for this purpose. Then, GAELICAM courses that satisfy the qualification training requirements for each ATSEP are identified with crosses (X) in the corresponding row of the mentioned Table.

An ATSEP whose tasks and activities will require him/her to work with a combination of systems and/or equipment shall, during the Qualification Training, satisfy all the objectives in all the relevant streams.

Example: Minimum Training Itinerary for an ATSEP that is working with Transmission/Reception systems (Domain: Communications; Subject: Voice; Topic: Air/Ground) would be composed of the following courses:

• CNSATM-INITIAL (Basic Training)
• C-VOICE (Qualification Training)
• CNSATM-GEN (Qualification Training)

taken from the following ATSEP/Controller/Pilot Training Itinerary table: