The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently released new rules that will affect Canadians and other non-US citizens and residents who are seeking to do flight or simulator training in the USA.
The new rules were mandated in an Act of Congress and the TSA has enacted them
without prior consultation.
The consultation was completed after the rules were in place due to the current
U.S. security situation. COPA has submitted comments to the TSA as part of that
process.
Under these new rules, in place as of Oct. 20, 2004, all foreigners, including
Canadians, taking any flight training in the USA, on any size of aircraft, will
have to submit to a security clearance procedure in advance.
This includes foreigners seeking ab initio training, glider and balloon training
and even factory courses on new aircraft types as part of an aircraft purchase.
This security clearance procedure includes mandatory finger printing and
photographing conducted in the USA. Applicants will be required to pay for their
own finger printing at an estimated cost of $100US, plus pay a security
clearance fee to the TSA of $130US as well.
COPA’s comments to the TSA are reproduced here: These comments are being submitted by the Canadian Owners & Pilots Association (COPA), an organization that represents 18,000 pilots and aircraft owners in Canada, on the subject of Docket No. TSA-2004-19147 Department of Homeland Security – Transportation Security Administration – Flight Training for Aliens and Other Designated Individuals; Security Awareness Training for Flight School Employees issued on Sept. 20, 2004, with a comment period that closes Oct. 20, 2004.
COPA has reviewed this rulemaking in detail and wishes to add its concerns to
those already voiced by the US Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA)
about these new regulations.
One of our greatest concerns is that the rules have been implemented and then
the consultation has been conducted at very short notice after the rules are
already in force. This will make incorporating the concerns raised by us and
other organizations and individuals very difficult and unlikely to occur.
While COPA understands that the current perceived national security situation in
the USA has mandated these regulations, we believe that the safety and economic
implications have not been well studied or considered in the rulemaking process.
COPA believes that the inclusion of all those non-US nationals who are seeking
flight or simulator training on small aircraft under 12,500 lbs in these rules
will have a far greater negative impact on flight safety and the US economy than
any positive effect that it might have on actual security.
Many Canadians pilots utilize U.S. schools for continuing flight and simulator
training on more complex types of light aircraft as well as for other types of
flight training. The new requirements for security screening and finger printing
in advance of taking this regular training, plus the cost of upwards of $230US
to even apply (including finger printing) will be a significant economic
deterrent to Canadians, contrary to the statements made in the rulemaking
docket.
This will mean that many Canadian pilots will not go to the U.S. to take this
optional training and will just fly without it. This is legal to do so, but
obviously will result in a decreased level of safety as a result, including when
these aircraft are operated by visiting pilots in the USA.
The rule as it is written says that this applies to flight training which it defines as including “instruction received from a flight school in an aircraft or flight simulator.” This means that Canadians who come to the U.S. to do training on gliders or balloons are captured in the rule.
We don’t believe that your threat assessment will show that training on these types of aircraft is a threat and that the rule included them by mistake.
COPA disagrees with the assessment in the docket that the International Trade
Impact and the economic impact on U.S. flight schools will be neutral. COPA
believes that this will be a serious barrier to taking flight training in the
U.S. for non-U.S. residents, Canadians in particular, and that the end result
will be economic hardship for some U.S. flight schools.
COPA also disagrees with the docket’s assertions that training on small aircraft
needs to be captured in this new rule because training on small aircraft can be
applied to operating larger aircraft.
We note that the TSA was not instructed to include flight training in these
small aircraft under the new rules by Vision 100 – Century of
Aviation Reauthorization Act, but did so at its own initiative.
By including small aircraft in this way TSA has produced rules that were not
subject to any democratic process or debate prior to their implementation and
are now only being consulted on after the rules are in place.
Flight training on small aircraft is available in most countries in the world,
often to standards that exceed those of the U.S. The net effect of this rule in
this regard will not be to stop undesirable persons from receiving flight
training, but it will convince many thousands of other foreign nationals, who
are not a threat to U.S. security, to pursue flight training elsewhere,
resulting in the aforementioned negative impact on the U.S. economy while
providing no security benefit.
COPA requests that these comments be considered and that the rules presented be
amended to return them to those in use when the DoJ was administering the
program – specifically that training on small aircraft under 12,500 lbs be
excluded.
COPA members who are intending to do any kind of flight or simulator training in the U.S., including recurrency training, are encouraged to contact the schools involved well in advance to arrange finger printing and the completion of the required paperwork. Contact Adam Hunt