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2nd half year 2010 Volume 02 - No. 8 |
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Jan Brown closes four decades of aviation service |
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 Jan
Brown retired as Director of the Air Traffic Services (ATS) Division on
July 30, bringing an end to a stellar 37 year career at the Princess
Juliana International Airport (PJIA) and 41 years in the field of
aviation.
Recognised and respected as the visionary force behind the development
of the Air Traffic Control (ATC) facility at PJIA, Mr. Brown leaves a
legacy of vaulting St. Maarten to the technological forefront of air
traffic services.
Mr. Brown joined the aviation family in March 1968 on Curaçao where he
worked as an assistant ATC. He holds a degree in ATC from the Ezeiza, an
ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) and UNDP (United
Nations Development Programme) training facility in Buenos Aires,
Argentina.
Also a licensed pilot, Mr. Brown started working at PJIA in 1973 as
Senior ATC and later became Chief ATC before assuming the position of
Director of the Air Traffic Services Division on April 1, 1999.
In 1973, with Puerto Rico controlling air traffic services, he was
offered the opportunity to come to St. Maarten to setup a permanent ATC
facility. Together with another colleague, he started working on St.
Maarten’s ATC facility and the rest, as they say, is history. In his
capacity as Director of the ATS Division, along with a team of
department managers, he was responsible for the management of the
procedural and radar control at within PJIA’s area of responsibility and
for flight information services. It is in the area of radar and related
technological advancements that Mr. Brown left his mark.
Under his tenure and guidance, PJIA acquired one of the most
sophisticated and modern radar systems in the world. The so called Solid
State Radar and its technology are the envy of most airports in the US
which are only now looking to upgrade to the system St. Maarten uses.
“What we have is even more modern than in the U.S. where they are still
using the older ASR 9 radar system, which is basically obsolete. They
are now talking about upgrading ATC service in U.S.,” Mr. Brown said.
“We have people that come from all over the region that come to see our
system and are amazed to see what St. Maarten has in terms of radar and
modern technology in communications, navigation and surveillance,” he
added.
Complimenting the technological advances, Mr. Brown noted, is the highly
trained and skilled personnel that operates these facilities, technical
personnel as well as operators who conduct a safe, orderly and
expeditious flow of traffic. “Our personnel are highly recognised in the
Caribbean, and ranks as number one as far as equipment and technical
skill goes,” he said.
Of the 24 ATC’s at PJIA, eight are qualified in radar approach and tower
departments and provide ground, clearance delivery, tower and approach
all in one. Their skills and knowledge, as evidenced by commendations
from pilots and function upgrading are, again, tops in the Caribbean.
Duncan van Heyningen, a 17-year veteran ATC credited Mr. Brown as the
reason St. Maarten is where it is in terms of ATS advancement. “I’ve
worked under him for 17 years. His vision led to the radar system we
currently have. I believe this was his main objective here. He’s been
saying he would retire for a number of years now, but with the system
finally in place and PJIA being at its technological peak with ATS, he
accomplished his goals,” Van Heyningen said. Added Brown: “To everyone’s
career there is a purpose. For me it was to bring St. Maarten up to date
with the modern world and bring our ATC facilities up to a level where
we can compete with any other ATC facility in the world. We have a state
of the art facility that can last us for 25 years.”
He described his years at PJIA as “always good” considering that
“aviation is in my blood.” He said PJIA has come a long way from its
early days, “thanks to people with good vision and dedication, some old
ATC’s that became managers and together with the various politicians who
ensured that St. Maarten had status in this region and the world.”
After 41 years of service in the aviation field, one might think it’s
not easy to walk away. Mr. Brown however, is looking forward to a
complete break from the field to afford younger people the opportunity
to grow in the field. When some people ask him where he is going with
all his knowledge, he replies: “I have to go. First of all, every year
you see 400 kids graduating. If the old folks hang around too long,
these young chaps won’t get a chance. So I thought 60 was a good age to
retire. Once you get to that age, you have to give the younger
generation a break. At least start grooming them so that there is
continuity in the operation.”
Surely he would be open for some sort of a consulting role right? “Not
really,” he said.” He will be open for the occasional “phone call now
and then” to clarify something but “you have to back off completely and
let others get a chance to share their input.”
Management at PJIA hosted a farewell reception for Mr. Brown on Friday,
July 30 which he described as “fantastic, a real surprise.”
“I thanked them wholeheartedly. Many people get their flowers when they
die, so it’s nice to see that the company and colleagues appreciated
your contribution to the building of the company and get the chance to
tell you how much you are appreciated before you check out, so to
speak,” Mr. Brown concluded.
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