Post by Don Gieseke on Jul 18, 2012 10:59:44 GMT -6
From "USA TODAY"
Foreign students are able to study at U.S. flight schools after entering the country illegally or without undergoing a security check required after the 2001 terror attacks, government investigators say.
The Government Accountability Office reported Wednesday that its investigators found that eight foreign nationals attending a Boston flight school in March 2010 had entered the country illegally. Seventeen more who received security checks had overstayed their allotted time in the country.
Three of them had obtained pilot's licenses, Stephen Lord of the GAO told the House Homeland Security subcommittee on transportation security.
Investigators also found that an undisclosed number of foreigners among the 25,599 registered with the Federal Aviation Administration to train to fly were not in a Transportation Security Administration database and hadn't applied for a security check.
"We were surprised to find that some — the exact number is designated sensitive security information — some of the foreign nationals holding pilot's licenses were not in the TSA's database, indicating that some foreign nationals hadn't been vetted before receiving flight training," Lord said.
Three of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers who slammed planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were trained to fly at schools in Florida, Arizona and Minnesota.
After the attacks, Congress required the TSA to run security checks on all foreign flight students for planes weighing more than 12,500 pounds.
But GAO investigators found that the TSA check, which includes a criminal-background check and a comparison to a terrorist database, doesn't occur until after the student has started training.
"Thus, foreign nationals obtaining flight training with the intent to do harm, such as three of the pilots and leaders of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, could have already obtained the training needed to operate an aircraft before they received any type of vetting," Lord told the subcommittee in written testimony.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., asked the TSA whether somebody on the terrorist watch list could begin flight training, in effect being allowed to fly a plane while not being allowed to board a commercial flight.
"That is true," said Kerwin Wilson, general-aviation manager at TSA. But, he added, it would take a long time for the student to complete training and that the background check could be completed during that time.
"I'm shocked that somebody on the no-fly list can be approved for flying lessons in this country," said the panel chairman, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala.
The TSA says it receives 48,000 applications each year for foreigners to receive flight training. The agency has reviewed 350,000 applications involving 125,000 people since 2001.
"Flight-training providers are prohibited from providing training until the security threat assessment has been successfully conducted by TSA," Wilson said.
The TSA and the Federal Aviation Administration agreed in February to better exchange information about pilots. The TSA vowed to complete a plan to improve security checks for foreign flight students by the end of this year.
Foreign students are able to study at U.S. flight schools after entering the country illegally or without undergoing a security check required after the 2001 terror attacks, government investigators say.
The Government Accountability Office reported Wednesday that its investigators found that eight foreign nationals attending a Boston flight school in March 2010 had entered the country illegally. Seventeen more who received security checks had overstayed their allotted time in the country.
Three of them had obtained pilot's licenses, Stephen Lord of the GAO told the House Homeland Security subcommittee on transportation security.
Investigators also found that an undisclosed number of foreigners among the 25,599 registered with the Federal Aviation Administration to train to fly were not in a Transportation Security Administration database and hadn't applied for a security check.
"We were surprised to find that some — the exact number is designated sensitive security information — some of the foreign nationals holding pilot's licenses were not in the TSA's database, indicating that some foreign nationals hadn't been vetted before receiving flight training," Lord said.
Three of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers who slammed planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were trained to fly at schools in Florida, Arizona and Minnesota.
After the attacks, Congress required the TSA to run security checks on all foreign flight students for planes weighing more than 12,500 pounds.
But GAO investigators found that the TSA check, which includes a criminal-background check and a comparison to a terrorist database, doesn't occur until after the student has started training.
"Thus, foreign nationals obtaining flight training with the intent to do harm, such as three of the pilots and leaders of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, could have already obtained the training needed to operate an aircraft before they received any type of vetting," Lord told the subcommittee in written testimony.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., asked the TSA whether somebody on the terrorist watch list could begin flight training, in effect being allowed to fly a plane while not being allowed to board a commercial flight.
"That is true," said Kerwin Wilson, general-aviation manager at TSA. But, he added, it would take a long time for the student to complete training and that the background check could be completed during that time.
"I'm shocked that somebody on the no-fly list can be approved for flying lessons in this country," said the panel chairman, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala.
The TSA says it receives 48,000 applications each year for foreigners to receive flight training. The agency has reviewed 350,000 applications involving 125,000 people since 2001.
"Flight-training providers are prohibited from providing training until the security threat assessment has been successfully conducted by TSA," Wilson said.
The TSA and the Federal Aviation Administration agreed in February to better exchange information about pilots. The TSA vowed to complete a plan to improve security checks for foreign flight students by the end of this year.