Conair receives approval for firefighting mission training system

The Level 4 certification applies to all six of the FTDs that comprise the MTS – two for the AT-802 Fire Boss; and one each for the Dash 8-400AT, RJ85, Cessna 208B, and Turbo Commander TC 690 fixed-wing aircraft.

The MTS is designed to allow up to six pilots to conduct aerial firefighting training in a shared simulation, “training over the same wildfire at the same time”. Conair stated that this is the first training system “in the world” to be certified for aerial firefighting, and added that it would allow them to qualify more pilots faster, to keep up with rising demand.

“Our pilots can now gain credit for training in the MTS, reducing the total time required in the actual aircraft,” said Scott Stewart, Manager, Flight Standards with Conair. “Not only can we train our pilots more effectively, in multi-group simulator sessions, we can train them more efficiently, giving them significantly more experience over fires to prepare for real-world operations from within the safe confines of a simulator platform.

“Additional specific approvals, including low visibility and night training, allow us to train crews for the challenges of aerial firefighting in a much more realistic and meaningful manner,” he added.

The MTS will be kept at Conair’s Training + Tactic Centre, and is currently available for pilots at Conair and Aero-Flite, in addition to partner government wildfire management staff. However, the company has confirmed that it plans to “expand the program globally in the future”.

The company also purchased seven additional Dash 8-400 aircraft in August of last year.