WASHINGTON — An Alabama congressman told TSA officials this week he’s shocked that people placed on the “No-Fly” list, a post-9/11 Transportation Security Administration initiative, can attend flight school and receive flight certificates.
A House subcommittee chaired by Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., held a hearing Wednesday on a new government report showing weaknesses in the vetting policies of U.S. flight schools. The hearing took an interesting turn after a TSA official said that a U.S. citizen restricted from commercial flying is allowed to train for a pilot license.
“There’s a reason that they’re on the no-flight list,” said Rogers, the chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security. “That means that they are a risk.”
The Government Accountability Office investigated TSA regulations and polices from January 2006 to September 2011, discovering that more than 25,000 foreign nationals applied for airmen certificates. Only trainees who have completed flight training can obtain their flight license, according to GAO testimony.
Some of those foreign students did not go through background security checks.
“There’s some kinks in the system,” said Stephen Lord, director in GAO’s homeland security and justice issues department.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has identified more than 30 investigative leads, which have led to four arrests. ICE declined to say if any of those investigations were in Alabama, citing the ongoing probe.
Lord also mentioned that the names of foreigners in the airmen registry were not in TSA’s database, an indication that every flight school student wasn’t properly vetted by TSA before training began. The Federal Aviation Administration runs the airmen registry and provides pilot licenses.
GAO recommended that TSA identify all registered airmen who did not undergo a security threat assessment and implement a system to prevent future instances. TSA officials signed a Department of Homeland Security compliance form in February saying it would match names with the FAA database.
“They still haven’t figured out why some of these individuals weren’t vetted in the first place,” said Lord. He told the subcommittee to expect updates in 90 days.
Rogers asked Lord if he thought the 9/11 hijackers could receive flight training in TSA’s current vetting system.
“There’s a lot of unknowns right now,” Lord said.