May 25, 2016 – Developed at the request of airport lighting maintenance electricians and others involved in the design and construction of airport lighting systems, Campbell River Airport recently hosted a 4-day Airport Lighting Maintenance Course to provide a formal, standardized training program in the essentials of their trade.

The course is also intended to provide the basis for a standardized level of training and a path for continued training and achievement recognition. This training results in increased safety for those who work at the airport and improved reliability for the airport lighting visual aid systems that are so important to aircraft safety during landing, takeoff and taxiing operations.

The course welcomed over 20 electricians and maintenance people from across Canada. A portion of the course included hands-on training using the Airport Electrical Training Centre that Murray Ames built at the airport. This was the first time in Canada that this course included hands-on training using a fully operational miniature airport lighting field.

Navaid Lighting Associates Inc. organized the training course, and offers the training through the International Association of Airport Executives (IAAE) in Canada. It is proposed that this workshop will become an annual training course held in Campbell River each Spring to continue providing this specialized training.

— With files from Murray Ames, airport electrician with Campbell River, and director of the Canadian Airports Electrical Association (CAEA), the organization that hosts the annual CANEW (Canadian Airports National Electrical Workshop). He is also an associate member of the CSA Z463 Technical Committee, and was involved in drafting Z463’s guideline for maintaining electrical systems at airports. Photo courtesy Murray Ames.

CLICK HERE to learn about the 2016 workshop being held in Moncton, N.B., in September.

ALSO, check out our video,  “These electrical flyboys keep our airports running”.