SELMA, Alabama — Craig Field, the airport and industrial park in Selma, will soon become home to the nation’s first Remote Tower Air Traffic Control Center and a unique training academy stemming from a project that could revolutionize airspace control services in the United States.
Advanced ATC Inc., an air traffic control academy in Valdosta, Georgia, is leading the project with plans to invest nearly $4.7 million to set up the Remote Tower Air Traffic Control Center (RTC) at the former U.S. Air Force base in Dallas County.
Remote tower technologies allow air traffic controllers to perform all the functions of a traditional control tower from a different location through the extensive use of cameras, real-time video and other advances.
No remote tower centers are in operation in the U.S., though the technology is rapidly gaining a foothold in Europe.
