Heathrow Airport with TA

Posted Mon 15th Jul 2024 at 11:26
by Samuel Boyes

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A behind-the-scenes tour of the second busiest airport in the world!

The TA Heathrow trip was an absolutely amazing opportunity which I thoroughly enjoyed.

After meeting at the Compass Centre we saw the Behind-The-Scenes of baggage management and it looks like a rollercoaster in there, and it’s so well organised that bags very, very rarely end up in the wrong place, yet still getting it done at an insane speed.

Next, we went to the Control Tower, which was absolutely amazing, we went to the digital control tower first which is used when the actual control tower is shrouded in fog and those up there can’t reliably manage the planes. Then we went up the actual control tower and the view was better than anything I’d seen, the planes all looked like toys from up there.

Afterwards we went to the fire department, where first I was allowed to try out the training simulator and had loads of fun aiming the water at the people escaping the plane as opposed to the fire on the plane itself, then we went in a real fire engine and drove around the runways looking at each plane and potentially scaring people on those planes that there’s a fire.

Finally, we all went back to the Compass Centre and discussed how Heathrow could improve their workspace for those with neurodiversity.

Overall it was one of the best trips I’ve ever been on, and I enjoyed it loads, as well as learning about the hidden side of an airport. Thank you so much to Tourettes Action for giving me this opportunity. 

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