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Why is Wizz Air training pilots using virtual reality? We went to Budapest to find out
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Oct 7, 2024
Join City A.M. in Budapest, Hungary, as we visit Wizz Air's pilot training centre. The budget carrier is using Airbus-developed virtual reality to train new pilots. The technology creates a virtual, realistic-looking cockpit which allows pilots to hone their skills and practice safety procedures from the comfort of their homes. We also explore the entire training centre, including demoing a simulated plane crash used for cabin crew training and participating in an emergency evacuation drill. Timestamps: 00:00 – Arrival in Budapest and Introduction 01:15 – Overview of Wizz Air and VR Training Technology 02:45 – Inside the VR Cockpit: First Impressions 05:30 – Interview with Attila Tóvári, Head of Training at Wizz Air 09:20 – Cabin Crew Training and Simulated Plane Crash 14:00 – Final Thoughts on VR Training and Future Applications Get more of City A.M. 👇 🌐 http://www.cityam.com X(formerly Twitter): http://twitter.com/CityAM Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cityam Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/city_am LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/cityam Monkeys Spinning Monkeys Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
View Video Transcript
0:00
So we are in Budapest, Hungary, just outside the capital
0:18
We just landed about an hour ago. I'm with Joe. Hello, I'm Joe behind the camera
0:24
Joe, the camera operator. Let me guess, let me guess. We're doing something to do with air
0:30
We're there, yeah, so we're outside the pilot training centre. Basically, we've been invited to trial out this new virtual reality tech they're using, which is pretty cool
0:40
It's actually developed by Airbus. So we're going to play on a VR console or some sort
0:45
I love VR games. It's literally a VR headset, so you whack it on, as you've seen in sort of gaming, same thing
0:52
Basically puts pilots in the cockpit. They can do safety procedures, go through the controls
0:58
Forget about the safety procedures. I just want to know if I can crash the thing
1:02
Well, what you can do is try out on an emergency landing. So if you feel so inclined, we could
1:08
potentially crash a jet later. Oh yeah, I think the audience wants this one from crash going
1:13
I know about you. Yeah, obviously safety is really important. Why do they bother doing this
1:17
type of stuff anyway? Well, I'm not completely sure. It's very new tech, but what we're going
1:22
to do is speak some pilots, go inside to see what they think of it. I know that
1:26
Luftans have trialled it out. Whizair now are an Airbus. I have described it as revolutionary
1:32
but obviously they would say that, wouldn't they? Well, should we go in and have a good look then? Let's have a look
1:36
Yeah. A bit of background about Whiz Air is the third biggest
1:40
low-cost airline in Europe behind Ryanair and Easy Jet. Its main airport in the UK is Luton
1:46
although it also does flights from Gatwick as well. Alongside the pilot training centre in Budapest
1:51
it's also building one in Rome, costing around $40 million, although as yet, it won't have
1:56
have VR. Focus, focus, your stupid thing
2:15
So this is going to be really quite interesting. Hey, well, hi-bye, I'm camera operator Joe
2:19
Traditionally, what you do is go onto one of these fake panels
2:23
Imagine your plane pilot. What do you do? Probably cockpit door. Make sure that's closed
2:32
We clearly are complete professional set. Make sure we're level. Yep, I think Captain Guy, we are definitely level
2:41
So we're ready to pull a button, pull this thingy. And maybe you press a couple of buttons
2:49
I'm gonna call you Captain. I'm the co-pilot. I'm definitely not the captain
2:54
You're not the captain. You know what you're doing. right? Okay, so I'm joined by Tavari Atila, head of training at WISA and a former pilot
3:10
Can you just explain how has this new VR tech helped training for pilots
3:15
Yeah, we are very happy to implement it last December and the program significantly improved
3:21
the pilot training We see major improvement in training standards because they are We are more eager to play with the VR than reading books Can you imagine just reading books and reading the procedures and memorizing it
3:35
Instead, right here you have the possibility to actually have the motoring movement with your hands
3:41
So whenever you enter our simulators, you are much more ready for the training
3:46
which gives them a much better result. And as a result, we can give them much deeper training, much better training and much better standards
3:54
How many other airlines are currently using this type of training? And could you see it sort of come into widespread use by, in mainstay, legacy carriers, other budget airlines
4:04
I don't know the exact numbers, but they are different level of implementation already by different airlines
4:09
Not just for pilot training, but for cabin crew training as well. I see a very big potential, specifically that this program is a development for the new generation
4:19
They are much more on the iPad, much more connected to the internet
4:23
and it really deeply supports their learning abilities. Does it allow you to recruit, say, more pilots
4:29
because you can train people maybe faster or more efficiently, and by that extension, maybe even have an impact on capacity
4:37
The intention is not to recruit more trainees, but to have much better standards
4:41
Really, it's the whole mentality of the pilot that they feel successful
4:46
they are happy, so it's a total different experience. during training for them
4:51
Being a formal pilot yourself, how does it actually compare to the reality of sitting in a cockpit
4:56
doing all the preparations for a flight? The view for pilots, usually we come back to the simulator
5:03
every six months. During this six months, we do normal operation most of the time
5:08
And before we come to the simulator, we have time to read the books and prepare for the session
5:13
But it's still again, it's reading the book, and this is how you prepare for a simulator
5:17
While in VR environment, you can actually feel like sitting in a cockpit and doing exactly what you're going to expect to do in the simulator
5:26
So it gives them a very clear view. How close is it to the real-life experience
5:31
Say you've just trained using this VR and then someone threw you into a cockpit
5:35
Are you going to be able to at least have a go or almost fly a player
5:40
Yeah, fully agree with that because it's so real that you can even see the shadows there, all these scratches on the..
5:47
flight deck so it's the environment is very realistic and I feel like in a real
5:53
environment even the sunset or sunrise is there so you can see the the shadows
5:59
every so it's a beautiful environment what they created so the product what
6:03
they accomplished is a very high standard right Tihoh right so guys
6:17
We've just had a quick overview, whiz, and some of the cool stuff they're doing
6:21
But now we're apparently supposed to be doing something about the cabin crew training or something
6:26
Know anything about this? Yeah, so we're not doing a VR yet, but now it's basically, it's called CET, it's right on the wall there
6:34
CETU. So through that door is basically half of the jet that they've built, which is basically a massive simulation
6:43
So I think we go on, then they essentially protect. to crash the plane Okay I loving this already We going to crash a plane apparently Oh no they going to crash a plane and we in it Well yeah we in it It not actually real I think there be a bit of shaking videos
6:59
I'm guessing my mum probably wouldn't appreciate this somehow. We do get the slides off the side of the plane
7:05
Winning at life. I'm going to be on slides crashing planes. This is the best job ever. Right, anyway, you better to get in there because we're a bit late
7:17
So first of all as you can see, this really looks like a real aircraft
7:22
And what we provide here is a whole day training for cabin crew pilots and we really push them to their limits
7:29
Can you please see the lights? Good. Now we stop a little bit
7:57
Can you just switch on the last please? What we used to do with Kevin Kuzn pilot
8:02
Is anyone here who doesn't want to slide or try out? No. I love you. Okay
8:09
Good. Because I can push you on there. So once we are patriesting, we will show the real evacuation
8:16
Okay, Guy, what are we doing? So I think we are about to craft
8:20
Obviously it's a simulation. We are potentially going to be able to jump out on the slides
8:26
Um, afterwards, I don't know, I didn't. Never been in a pain, I'm myself personally, so I don't know
8:33
This is quite exciting. Yeah, let's see. We are gonna crash guys
8:38
And we will leave the runway. Good. And ready. So guys, we are about out
8:46
to crash get ready for the brace and get ready to jump out of the airplane oh here we go guys
8:58
breathe freeze red position burn down protect your head is this great yes yes i don't know what i'm doing
9:16
Debaruate, devalue. Get your seat, open your seatbelt
9:27
Open your seatbelt. Get out, get out. Leave your love you. From inside, jump on the seat back
9:39
I guess I want to say, everybody, I love you, I love you, my pet dog
9:43
I don't have a pet dog, but I love you if I have one. One. Get up
9:47
Jump and slide! Get up! Jump and slide! Jump and slide! Emergency
9:55
Open your seat bus! Open your bus! Get up, get up! See you
10:05
Reggie, see you! It's a guy. I think we just suburb the crash
10:13
That was pretty easy To be honest We just need to have flames around us and stuff next time Yeah there weren much things Not in the video exactly
10:24
But hey, now we can honestly say we've been in a plane crash. Boom
10:29
A simulated plane crash. Ah, details, details. We're going through one of the plane exits
10:53
Follow me, follow me, follow me, follow me, leg, head, leg, follow me
11:02
You had leg leg, leg, head, leg. Okay. Okay, so we are finally about to try the VR cockpit
11:26
After a day of waiting, let's see what happens. Here's the screen
11:32
As you see, it's pretty realistic. This all sounds very interesting, but this is
11:37
is definitely the finale, right? Yeah, this is it, I think. Although, unfortunately, I don't think you can do an emergency landing, which is a bit of a shame
11:44
I must admit, I was really looking forward to crashing the plane. Deliver a little
11:48
Hey, hey, hey, but we did actually participate in an emergency landing
11:52
That was pretty cool. Yeah, we got a simulation, to be fair, although not virtual reality
11:57
Hey, maybe the next version. Maybe the next version can die, hey? So we've just tried it out
12:12
It's so pretty impressive. Literally directs you step-by-step what to do. You feel like completely like you're in the cockpit
12:20
They were even saying that there's like a full airplane tour you can do
12:24
so you can literally walk around the whole plane. They put on this sort of lesson simulator where it literally tells you
12:30
you know, check this button, check this button, quite a lot of detail. And at that point I was kind of like, ah, I see, you know
12:36
this is how you sort of develop the muscle memory. Right, guy, as a sci-fi nerd
12:45
I've been reading and watching movies about VR and stuff like this
12:49
for literally the past couple of decades. I'm a little bit disappointed. I never got a chance to play around with it
12:54
What's your thoughts on it? It was fun. It is kind of futuristic, future has arrived today, vibes
13:00
I personally think the more interesting side is just how it's being used across other industries, VR, like on top of training pilots
13:06
It's being using medicine. VR's now being used in therapy settings by psychiatrists
13:11
It's also being using doctors and surgeons to prep for major surgery
13:15
I'm so glad that Wizard sent us over to be the past. It gave us a bit of insight into what they do when it comes to the cabin training, the captain training
13:23
And something I never would otherwise really understand because it's not part of my world
13:27
I thought we were just going to be doing VR, but then we literally got to see the entire pilot training center, got to go on a crash plane and just see how it's all done
13:35
And obviously the VRs, I'm an interesting thing, but it was pretty cool. What
13:43
Wait! Thank you
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