Lawmaker pushes for background checks for flight students
HARRISBURG – Hoping to avoid a repeat of Sept. 11, a state lawmaker is proposing stricter guidelines for flight schools in the state, including mandating criminal background checks for students. The administration is considering the idea, but some aviation officials fear the legislation could do more harm than good.
“I think its overreaction,” said Paul Arnholt, an air traffic controller professor at Community College of Beaver County Aviation Sciences Center. “I really wonder if they understand aviation.”
House Democratic Whip Mike Veon’s legislation would require every individual who enrolls in a flight school in Pennsylvania to undergo a criminal background check before they begin training. Flight school operators would report the names and addresses of students enrolled in their programs and provide a copy of the criminal background reports to state officials, who would maintain an electronic registry.
The bill would also require instructors to report flight plans before permission is granted to students to use airfields and seek to restate federal regulations and laws in state statute.
The proposed requirements are more important than ever in light of ongoing reports out of the nation’s capital, said Veon, D-Beaver. Evidence indicates there were suspicions about flight students who trained at U.S. flight schools and ultimately became involved with the Sept. 11 attacks.
“Still nothing has been done to plug this glaring security hole,” said Veon, who’s been one of the state’s loudest advocates for increased security.
“The fact is that a terrorism-related incident can happen quickly and without warning, and we just have not done enough to prepare ourselves in Pennsylvania, despite the firsthand knowledge we have of what happens when we wait or fail to act.”
Earl Freilino, director of Pennsylvania’s Office of Homeland Security, is reviewing the plan, but hasn’t taken a stance yet, said his spokesman David Hixson.
“On the surface, there is a feeling that maybe this should be done at the federal level and he may want to wait for [federal officials] to roll out their legislative agenda this summer,” Hixson said.
Many in the state’s aviation community have yet to see Veon’s proposal, but some said they were concerned by the sound of it.
“What’s the purpose” of the criminal background checks, asked Arnholt. “So they can’t fly planes into [buildings]. I think it’s an overreaction. Should they do that for guys who drive fuel trucks? Do they do that for bus drivers? I wonder if they should do that for them. I mean, how far can you carry this stuff.”
There may be holes in the legislation, too. It’s not necessary to enroll in a flight school to learn how to fly; lessons can be taken with a private instructor who’s not affiliated with any school, said Robert Rockmaker, executive secretary of the Aviation Council of Pennsylvania, which represents flight schools, airports and others in the aviation industry.
And Veon’s initiatives will cost money, which will ultimately be passed on to student pilots, aviation officials speculate.
This could exacerbate the commercial pilot shortage the nation is already facing.
“It will potentially cause some people to just pass” on learning how to fly, Rockmaker said. “It will become another hurdle.”