Real Air Traffic Control Video

I visited Miami TRACON on Jan. 19th, 2007 with a bunch of MDC students. Surprisingly enough, I was allowed to video tape inside the TRACON itself, with no restrictions. I got shots of the STARS simulators, the Traffic Management Unit (TMU), and - amazingly - controllers working live traffic.

Here is the footage I shot that day. I added a lot of text explanations in to the video, so that myself and others can use it to educate people as to what controllers actually do. It's a long-running joke that the public thinks ATC's are the guys with the earpads and lightsticks.

Here's my YouTube description of the video:
"A glimpse of a real air traffic control facility. Whenever you fly, folks like those shown in here are watching over you, making sure you arrive safely. It's a vital profession and, as you will see, requires a lot of concentration, skill, and judgement. I shot the video at Miami Tower on a class tour and edited it together, dropping in explanations for what is shown on screen. It starts off with their training simulator, then moves on to the 'real deal'."