A new lease on life for a sophisticated flight simulator

Flight simulators are highly sophisticated, expensive equipment vital to training the next generation of pilots and keeping those already in the air flying. That’s why our work conducting an independent evaluation of this simulator was so valuable.

Airwork had previously been using a flight simulator in Melbourne, Australia to meet their training and currency requirements. However, due to the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, access to this specific location was no longer viable.

After investigating alternative training strategies, Airwork identified a Boeing 737 simulator in Auckland that had previously been owned by Air New Zealand as a good alternative. As this simulator had been moved to a new facility under a new operator, it required formal qualification by New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority (NZ CAA) before it could be used again.

Client discussions with NZ CAA identified that an independent review of the simulator by Beca would provide them with the evidence they need to issue training approval and give this 737 simulator a new lease on life.

That’s where our Simulation team went to work, conducting on-site evaluation to the stringent JAR-STD 1A international qualification standard in just 11 days. Beca reviewed its service history, maintenance/functional issues, compliance history, comparison against the real aircraft, qualification testing as well as a quality management system review.

A full report detailing all the information required to review the suitability of this simulator for flight training was prepared and Beca actively worked with the NZ CAA to seek the necessary approval. With this 737 simulator now operational once again, Airwork have saved themselves the costly and potentially risky task of conducting training in a real aircraft!