Fight Brews Over Flight School Rules

Fearing flight schools could again become training grounds for terrorists, lawmakers in several states are seeking to limit instruction and require background checks for students.

A bill introduced in New Jersey, for example, would require flight schools to conduct background checks and keep a register of applicants that could be made available to authorities. Students would be barred from taking classes if they had been convicted of crimes such as aggravated assault, arson or murder.

South Carolina and Connecticut are considering similar legislation. In Michigan, lawmakers want schools to refuse lessons to anyone who is on probation or has had a felony conviction in the previous seven years.

Assemblyman Neil Cohen, the New Jersey bill’s sponsor, called the proposals “a minor inconvenience to those who are earnestly learning how to fly.”

The Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates the schools and is the only body that can authorize pilot’s licenses, said the state measures are unnecessary and encroach on the agency’s authority.

“States cannot regulate students at flight schools,” FAA spokesman William Shumann said. “The FAA has been adamant that we regulate aviation, not the states.”

Legislation is pending in Congress that would direct the FAA to review enrollment practices at flight schools and tell them to refuse instruction to students deemed a threat.

At least eight of the 19 hijackers Sept. 11 had some pilot training. Most trained in Florida; others took lessons in the San Diego and Phoenix areas.

Pilots and flight schools oppose state regulation of the industry, saying it could add a confusing layer of bureaucracy.