An air traffic controller job is a high pressure job and any person who is able to handle the high pressure of the job will only be able to get selected in the job. Any person who is not able to handle the situation will have to risk being thrown out of the job. The main reason for the high pressure nature of the job is that there are a lot of people who are involved in the job and the lives of many people are perennially at risk. It is the job of the air traffic controller to guide the pilot and the plane down carefully so that there are no accidents. The ATC or the air traffic controller is also the person who needs to be ready for any eventuality and identify if a plane goes missing of the radar. Early identification may be able to help the rescue workers to reach the site of the accidents soon and save the lives of many people.

There are various steps that are involved in a person to become an air traffic controller. This may vary from one place to another and this article talks of how to become one in the United States of America. Any person who needs to become an ATC in another country will need to follow the same steps, but the aviation authority will be different and the person has to conform to the guidelines set by the country's aviation authority. The aviation authority in the United States is the Federal aviation authority.

The various steps that are involved in the process of a person to become a air traffic controller are as follows:

Age limit:

There is an age limit on the person who needs to become an ATC. The person who wants to become an air traffic controller should be less than 30 years of age as any person who is more than this age are not allowed to become one.

Citizenship:

Usually the citizenship of the person is a important factor that needs to be conformed to the aviation authorities. The reason for this is the person has to know about the knowledge of the area and also needs to follow the rules of the land to be an air traffic controller.

Education:

For a person to become an air traffic controller, the person has to have some formal education that is specialized in that particular area. This teaches the individual about the various rules of air traffic and how to practically handle various situations that are high risk in nature. This will help the person to be equipped to handle any kind of situation. There are various institutions that have these kind of formal education and every person who needs to become an air traffic controller should be trained in these federal aviation authority approved institution only.

Internship program:

The individual who has completed the formal education in the aviation industry also needs to go on an internship program. This is because only if the person undergoes this, will he be able to live through a live session of air traffic control. This will give a boost to the confidence of the person in being able to face any situation. Once the person goes through all these steps, he will be able to become a full fledged air traffic controller in a smaller city and then graduate to a bigger place.

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