By: Dana Molina
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -Recreational pilots gathered at the Colorado Springs Airport Saturday to learn safety techniques from experts.
Representatives of Ft. Carson, the Air Force Academy, and the Federal Aviation Administration were there to share their insight.
“(Things like) making sure that you maintain a safe separation with other aircraft,” pilot Stan Vanderwer said. “You also want to make sure that you have all the skills you need to fly an airplane properly.”
Another goal of the meeting was for pilots of different entities to communicate.
“With all those different entities that we have, there’s just a lot of different diverse types of activities all within a certain amount of area,” said John McGinley, assistant director of operations and maintenance at the Colorado Springs Airport. “Having everybody together like that, it reduces the complexities. What we’re doing here is we’re facilitating the communication.”
Organizers said there was a record-breaking attendance of around 160 pilots. And although most don’t fly commercial planes, they say this meeting was key so everyone can be safe.
“Safety at an airport is everybody’s responsibility that uses the airport,” Vanderwer said. “So whether you’re a private pilot and you’re just flying your own airplane, or if you’re a commercial pilot flying a commercial airplane, everybody needs to know the procedures in order for the airport to be safe.”