une société d’aéronautique a organisé un job dating à bord d’un simulateur de vol
Specialized in aeronautics, but also space, defense and information technologies…
Specializing in aeronautics, but also space, defense and information technology, this company, which employs 13,000 people worldwide, including 150 at its Mérignac site, has no shortage of ideas. In December, she had organized a job dating in the cabin of an Airbus A 350 in Toulouse. Tuesday, April 5, around thirty candidates had an appointment at the Mercure Bordeaux Château Chartrons hotel. Not for the classic format of a face-to-face interview, but for a less formal contact.
Depressurization
In a room awaited them a flight simulator. This A320 cockpit was reproduced identically: the dashboard, the seats and even the noise of the engines. The instructors, real airline pilots, were in uniform. No manoeuvre, even risky, was eliminatory, which moreover did not happen. The purpose of the game was not to show off his piloting skills. Applicants, graduates or in the process of graduating, are not destined for this profession. For these future engineers and developers, it was a question of learning about SII while having a pleasant, fun time. A great moment even. All of them, in fact, are aviation enthusiasts.
Getting an A 320 from Nice to take off, even via a screen, doesn’t happen every day. The sky was clear, the view of the sea and the mountains in the distance splendid. The flight was announced perfect. “Depressurization”, the monitor announces. In the role of captain and co-pilot, there were two students from Evering Bordeaux, formerly IMA (Aeronautical Maintenance Institute).
“We airline pilots must go to the simulator four times a year”
“We have come down to an altitude where people can breathe”, sums up one of them, who has already accomplished, for his pleasure, thirty-five hours of flight on two-seaters or four-seaters. Next exercise: “On a passenger who is ill, therefore potentially unconscious”. At 20,000 feet, even virtual, their analytical mind was impressive, their calm too.
“We airline pilots must go to the simulator four times a year,” says Bertrand Nivard. Engine failure is one of the theoretical cases to be repeated, “an engine that catches fire just at takeoff for example”. This former Mirage F1 pilot accompanied the small group throughout the afternoon. An honor. For three years, he belonged to the Patrouille de France. He was even the leader.
“Error handling”
There’s nothing like a presentation on the “diamond”, the basic training of these virtuosos, to make people understand the importance of communication and relationships of trust between colleagues. “We are separated from each other by about 3 meters, he explained, supporting film. We fly at a speed between 300 and 600 km/h. To keep the patrol tight like that, there is no autopilot, no radar, no electronic system. It is done on sight. »
An extreme profession, of course, but whose operating rules can find an echo in any professional branch: “For thirty years, we have been working on error management in quite a different way. Before, there were rather penalties. Today, we encourage people to talk about them, to share them with the whole group, because we consider that this reduces the number of occurrences of these errors. »
The other workshops also had the function of inviting discussion, discussing the 50 positions to be filled in Mérignac, in short, getting to know each other better, without any stress. A team had the task of developing a flight plan. Others were building a plane out of Lego. Easy ? Maybe, except when you don’t have the instructions in front of you. This is done in pairs. One assembles the toy blindly, while his partner, instruction booklet in hand, describes precisely how the parts fit together. try to see.