LA GUARDIA AIRPORT, New York (May 12, 2008) – FlightSafety International is pleased to announce that Amparo Calatayud has been named Manager of the company’s new Learning Center in Lafayette, Louisiana.
“We look forward to Ampy’s leadership of this new Center of Excellence for Helicopter training,” said Bruce Whitman, President & CEO, FlightSafety International. “Her experience and proven ability will ensure our Customers receive the highest quality training and service.”
Ampy first joined FlightSafety in 1997 as an instructor and was promoted to Assistant Manager the following year. She was then named Manager, San Antonio Learning Center and served in that role for 5 years. Ampy left to raise her family and has recently served as a volunteer in the Burn Unit of the Brooke Army Medical Center, as Chairman, Green Door Thrift Shop and with the Community of Hope organization. She recently returned to FlightSafety as Assistant Manager, Dallas/Fort Worth Learning Center.
She served in the United States Army with the 159th Aviation Unit, Department of Allied Systems Training and the Helicopter BN, School of the Americas as an Instructor Pilot and Maintenance Test Pilot Evaluator. Ampy is a multi-engine rated fixed wing and rotorcraft pilot and is type rated in the Metro SA 227 and Sikorsky SK-70. She retired as a commissioned officer after 20 years of service. Ampy holds a Master of Science in Management from the Florida Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Arts from Queens College in New York.
The Lafayette Learning Center is scheduled to open this fall. The first full flight simulator to arrive will be a Sikorsky S-76 C+/C++. It will be equipped with FlightSafety’s electric motion and control loading technology and the company’s advanced VITAL visual system. The Center will also offer a series of next generation Flight Training Devices equipped with FlightSafety’s VITAL visual system, simulation software and other key components used in full flight simulators.
While the Lafayette Learning Center will emphasize training for offshore operations, it will also offer courses for the majority of helicopter types operating in the Gulf region, and for a wide variety of missions, including EMS, news gathering and law enforcement. Gulf Coast operators currently use approximately eight different rotorcraft models manufactured by Agusta, AgustaWestland, Bell, Eurocopter and Sikorsky.
FlightSafety International is the world’s premier aviation training organization. Over 75,000 pilots, technicians and other aviation professionals train at FlightSafety facilities each year. The company designs and manufactures full flight simulators for civil and military aircraft programs and operates the world’s largest fleet of advanced full flight simulators at 40 training locations.
