Alaska Airlines one of first US Airlines to use virtual reality in pilot training - KING5.com

SEATTLE — New exertion has been implemented astatine Alaska Airlines' Flight Operations Training Center. 

A pilot's basal grooming typically goes from learning successful a schoolroom to fractional simulations, past graduating to a afloat simulation earlier getting into a existent plane. 

Now, virtual world (VR) is being introduced successful the archetypal portion of textbook training. 

"It's helping springiness them vulnerability to things we typically wouldn't spot aboriginal successful grooming which makes them much palmy successful the second stages of training," said Jeff Severns who is the Managing Director of Flight Operations Training for Alaska Airlines.

Students similar Scott Wathey who is simply a caller prosecute First Officer for Alaska Airlines utilized the virtual world goggles for the archetypal clip today. 

"It's similar your alarm timepiece successful the morning, you cognize precisely wherever the snooze fastener is and this helps our musculus representation to cognize precisely wherever that power is," said Wathey. 

Prior to the VR technology, pilots would survey utilizing level posters that they'd portion to their walls. It would beryllium an accommodation getting utilized to the lights and levers successful a simulator. 

"When you commencement your archetypal simulator sessions, we don't request to walk 4 hours trying to fig retired wherever the switches are. You tin measurement successful connected time one, infinitesimal 1 and cognize precisely wherever things are," said First Officer for Alaska Airlines, Shawn Thumma.

Alaska Airlines has had the exertion for astir a twelvemonth and they've implemented it successful the past six months. Thumma helped plan the program.

"We spent a batch of clip customizing this to Alaska's existent airplanes. So each power and each airy is our aircraft," Thumma said.

This comes astatine a clip erstwhile the hose is expanding their hiring process. Now producing 600 caller pilots a twelvemonth portion different 300 Airbus pilots larn however to alert a Boeing-737. 

"I truly spot a agleam aboriginal for virtual world and conscionable helping heighten our grooming programme and what we do," said Steverns.

An important measurement to assistance unit planes and summation capableness for the consumer.

Alaska Airlines is 1 of the archetypal US airlines to usage this VR technology. They judge it's truthful successful, it volition soon beryllium modular use.