I am here with the exclusive AAI ATC Interview Series which primarily focuses on the preparation of the JE (ATC) Interview. The series is consisted of Five Articles which cover non-technical as well technical questions that I suppose can be asked in the ATC interview. It took a hell of an effort to write these articles and I have tried my level best to write the correct and updated answers and facts for each and every question. Here is brief about the JE (ATC) Interview Series:
- Article One (you are currently reading) covers topics related to General Awareness/Knowledge of the civil aviation Sector. Â Apart from the GK questions, I have also included some typical HR-type questions which are usually asked in any interview. The article has short answer-type questions which an ATC aspirant should know.
- Article Two focuses on the RADAR system, must-know topics that are asked frequently in the ATC interview. It covers topics like Primary and Secondary Radar, Radar Range Equation, Types of Radars used in ATC etc.
- Article Three aims at improving the knowledge about GAAGN, an AAI and ISRO’s joint venture for improving the navigation over Indian sub-continent. It covers GNSS, GPS, and working of GAGAN and GPS along with other relevant probable questions.
- Article Four covers a very important and interesting topic i.e. Aircraft. If you wish to be a part of Aviation World, then you are supposed to be aware about its centre of object i.e. the aircraft. The article covers topics such as how does aircraft fly, axis of aircraft, important parts of an aircraft along with the trivial questions like type of fuel used in Aircraft.
- Article Five covers some questions covering technical topics which could not be included in other articles. Some of the topics are radio wave propagation, Line of sight, antenna, duplexer etc.
Let us start our preparation by learning some important facts about Airports Authority of India, Civil Aviation sector, types of Airports, Aircraft, Air Traffic Control Towers and various other topics that you should know before entering the interview room. Be well prepared so that on completion of the interview, you come out with a smile on your face.
Ques. 1 : Who is the Minister of Civil Aviation?
Ans. Minister of Civil Aviation: Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia
Minister of State (Civil Aviation):Â Dr. Mahesh Sharma
Ques. 2 : Who is the Chairman of AAI?
Ans. Sanjeev Kumar is the current Chairman of the Airports Authority of India.
Ques. 3 : How many airports does AAI manage?
Ans. As per information available on AAI’s website:  AAI manages 137 airports, which include 24 International Airport, 10 Customs Airports, 103 Domestic Airports and 23 Civil Enclaves at Defense airfields.
Ques. 4 : When was AAI formed?
Ans. Airports Authority of India (AAI) was constituted by an Act of Parliament and came into being on 1st April 1995 by merging erstwhile National Airports Authority and International Airports Authority of India.
Ques. 5 : Who is Board Member (Air Navigation Services) of AAI?
Ans. Currently, Shri M. Suresh is Member (Air Navigation Services), AAI.
Ques. 6 : What is ICAO?
Ans. International Civil Aviation Organization was established in 1944. The ICAO works closely with its member states (read as countries) and other civil aviation groups to finalize the Standards and Recommended Practices (which are called SARPs) to bring the uniformity in regulations and operations followed by individual countries.
Ques. 7 : Who is the regulatory agency for Indian civil aviation?
Ans. Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is the regulatory body for civil aviation. Arun Kumar is current Director General of Civil Aviation.
Ques. 8 : What is Green Field Airport?
Ans. An airport that is built from scratch on a new site which is undeveloped is called Green Field Airport. So building a Green Field Airport has no constraints due prior work/existing infrastructure etc.Example: Rajiv Gandhi Intl. Airport, Hyderabad. Durgapur (West Bengal) has India’s first private Green Field Airport.
Ques. 9 : What is Brown Field Airport?
Ans. The term Brown Field is associated with upgrading or modifying the already existing infrastructure, hence those airports that are redeveloped/upgraded/modified are called Brown Field Airports. Example: IGI Airport, New Delhi
Ques. 10 : What do you know about MH17?
Ans. Flight MH17 was a Malaysian Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. The flight was travelling over the conflict-hit region on 17 July 2014 when it disappeared from RADAR. The flight crashed after being hit by a missile over Eastern Ukraine. A total of 283 passengers were killed in this accident.
Ques. 11 : What do you know about MH370?
Ans. MH370 was a Malaysian Airlines flight which was en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on 8 March 2014 when air traffic control unit lost contact with it. Despite an extensive search of the southern Indian Ocean, no trace of the aircraft had been found until the discovery of the aircraft’s part on Reunion Island in July’15 which was confirmed to be part of MH370 Flight.Investigators are continuing to search for the rest of the plane.
Ques. 12 : Name the two Indian airports that are to be managed by a foreign company?
Ans. Ahmadabad and Jaipur Airports will be managed by Singapore’s Changi Airport International Group. This is the first time in country that a foreign company has been allowed to manage Indian Airports.
Ques. 13 : Who is operator of New Delhi Airport?
Ans. GMR Group manages airport operations at IGI Airport, New Delhi whereas AAI manages Air Traffic Services.
Ques. 14 : Who is operator of Mumbai Airport?
Ans. GVK Group manages airport operations at CSI Airport, Mumbai whereas AAI manages Air Traffic Services.
Ques. 15 : Where is the tallest ATC tower in India and World?
Ans. Tallest ATC tower of India is in Mumbai (82m). Once completed, Delhi ATC Tower will be tallest tower in India with a height of 101.3m.
Ques. 16 : Where is World’s tallest ATC Tower?
Ans. World’s tallest ATC Tower is located at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport with an approximate height of 132.2m.
Ques. 17 : When did the first civil flight take place in India?
Ans. India’s first commercial civil flight took place on 18 February, between Allahabad and Naini (now a part of Allahabad itself), It was flown by Henri Piquet, covering a distance of 6 miles. This is considered to be the world’s first airmail service and the beginning of civil aviation in India.
Ques. 18 : When did India celebrated 100 years of civil aviation?
Ans. In the year 2011, India celebrated 100 years of Civil Aviation in the country commemorating the first flight that took place in 1911 between Allahabad and Naini.
Ques. 19 : Who is father of Indian aviation?
Ans. Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy (JRD) Tata is known as Father of Indian Aviation. In 1929, he became the first person in the country to be issued with a pilot’s license.
Ques. 20 : Which is the largest aircraft in the world?
Ans. Largest Aircraft in the world is Antonov 225 (Antonov is a Russian Aircraft Manufacturer) which is a Cargo Aircraft while World’s Largest Passenger Aircraft is Airbus 380 (Airbus is European Aircraft Manufacturer).
Ques. 21 : Which is World’s first solar-powered Airport?
Ans. Cochin International Airport is the first airport in the world that completely operates on solar power. Cochin airport’s power solar power plant is producing enough electricity to be used for all the operational functions.
Ques. 22 : Which is India’s busiest airport in terms of air traffic movements?
Ans. Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi is India’s busiest airport in terms of air traffic movements as well as Passenger handling. Mumbai is at number two while Bengaluru is at third spot.
Ques. 23 : Why do you want to become an ATC?
Ans. (prepare answer yourself)
Ques. 24 : How will you manage night shifts?
Ans. (prepare answer yourself)
Ques. 25 : Why should we select you?
Ans. (prepare answer yourself)
Ques. 26 : What do you know about Air Traffic Control?
Ans. (prepare answer yourself. Just prepare 4-5 lines about what is ATC and how does it work)
EDIT 1: I have written an article on ‘How to prepare for Voice Test’. It has two sample Voice Test papers. You can read the article here:
How to Prepare for AAI ATC Voice Test
EDIT 2: Read latest post about important definitions and terms like ADS-B, SSR, SBAS, GBAS, Runway, Flight Level etc for ATC Interview Preparation. Link is:
Important Terms and Definitions for JE-ATC Interview
I hope you get some of these questions in your JE (ATC) Interview. This article has covered topics such as Airports Authority of India, various types of airports, Agencies in Civil Aviation, Incidents and Accidents and some typical HR questions that are expected to be asked in the interview.
All the very best and share this post if you find it helpful.
