Memphis Tower & TRACON Tour

Februrary 2025 was an exciting time for the MSAA. In between planning for the Fly-In and Career Day we planned to host in April, we had the chance to tour Memphis Tower and TRACON at the International Airport! For security reasons, no pictures were allowed inside the facility, but we made do.

For those who don't know what a TRACON facility is, a TRACON, or Terminal Radar Approach Control, is an ATC facility where air traffic controllers sequence aircraft in and out of an airspace. The controllers at the Memphis TRACON control the Memphis Class Bravo, covering more than 60 miles of airspace as planes fly in and out of Memphis.

First, we attended a presentation about the history of the Memphis ATC facility and the procedures they use to sequence flights in and out of Memphis. After we got to tour Memphis Tower and meet the controllers who sequence planes for takeoff and landing at the busiest cargo hub in the world. There, we learned about the different roles in tower operations, especially how they differ from day to night ops.

Finally, we went down into TRACON, their underground facility and saw in real time how ATC coordinates with other facilities, sequences planes, and keeps us safe during cruise, approach, and departure.