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NATS Altitude
Altitude is a monthly live-streamed podcast from NATS - the UK's leading air traffic control company. Here people from across the aviation industry join our own team of experts to offer insights on a wide range of topics. Find out more about the world of air traffic control at NATS.aero.
NATS Altitude
3 - The Birth of Air Traffic Control: 100 years of keeping the skies safe
Altitude is a monthly podcast from NATS.
On 25 February 1920, the UK Air Ministry gave approval for the construction of a new building at London Croydon Airport, to be ‘erected 15 feet above ground level’ and with ‘large windows to be placed on all four walls’. This building was to be known as the ‘Aerodrome Control Tower’ and at a stroke coined both the term that has remained synonymous with Air Traffic Control for the past 100 years and a design that remains instantly recognisable.
Host Ady Dolan (Heathrow Air Traffic controller) is joined by Adam Spink (air traffic controller and history enthusiast) and Ian Walker (Chair of Historic Croydon Airport Trust) for an exploration of what life was like for those early air traffic innovators, and the foundations they laid that we still rely on today to keep the skies safe.
Enjoy the show and find out more at nats.aero/altitude
(Originally broadcast in Feb 2021)
You can also watch an on demand version of the livestream on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@NatsAero