Flight-school scrutiny still not perfect after 9/11

ORMOND BEACH, Fla. - Ten years after the attacks on the World Trade Center, government screening has made it harder for foreign students to enroll in civilian flight schools. But the most rigorous checks don't apply to all students and instructors, so schools and trainers have to be especially alert to weed out would-be terrorists.

"Prior to 9/11, I wouldn't have had the phone number and name of my local FBI agent posted on my wall. I do now," said Patrick Murphy, director of training at Sunrise Aviation in Ormond Beach, Fla., near Daytona Beach.

Hundreds of U.S. flight schools fiercely compete for students. In Florida, some still pitch the good weather as a way for students to fly more often and finish programs faster. The hijackers sought out U.S. schools partly because they were seen as requiring shorter training periods.

Florida schools have reason to be careful: Three of the hijackers were simulating flights in large jets within six months of arriving for training in Venice, Fla. Mohamed Atta, the operational leader of the hijackings, and Marwan al-Shehhi enrolled in an accelerated pilot program at Huffman Aviation, while Ziad Jarrah entered a private pilot program nearby. The terrorists obtained licenses and certifications despite rowdy behavior and poor performance at times.

The U.S. commission that investigated the attacks in New York said in its report that Atta and Shehhi quickly took solo flights and passed a private pilot-airman test. In fact, the two later enrolled at another school, where an instructor said the men were rude and aggressive, sometimes even fighting to take over the controls during training flights.

They failed an instrument-rating exam. Undeterred, they returned to Huffman for more training. Meanwhile, Jarrah received a single-engine private pilot certificate.

Terrorist Hani Hanjour obtained his private pilot license after about three months of training in Arizona. Several more months of training yielded a commercial pilot certificate, issued by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Today, it would be tougher for the four men to enter U.S. flight schools. There is a stricter visa process for foreign students seeking flight training. And they can't begin a class until the Transportation Security Administration - created after Sept. 11 - runs a fingerprint-based background check and runs their names through terrorist watch lists.

TSA inspectors now visit FAA-certified flight schools at least once a year to ensure students have proper documentation and have not overstayed their visas. Plus, TSA shares intelligence with other agencies and has layers of security to catch people before they can do harm, officials say.

The stepped-up measures are not foolproof or uniform. There are numerous flight instructors with access to planes and simulators who don't all get an annual TSA visit.

The TSA does have access to a database of all student pilots, but it runs only the names of U.S.-citizen students against watch lists, and not necessarily before those students can start their programs.

To help ensure that no terrorists make it through the check lists, TransPac Aviation Academy in Phoenix, as well as many other U.S. flight schools, require domestic applicants to show proof of citizenship, a high school diploma or college transcripts, a medical card, a driver's license, and any pilot licenses already held.

One security measure that is not employed by the government - but was of interest to the Sept. 11 commission - is requiring that transponders, which help locate commercial planes, cannot be turned off, as the hijackers did. But the FAA has said that if there were an electrical fire or malfunction, pilots must be able to turn off a transponder for safety reasons.

The improvements, and shortcomings, in the security process a decade after the attacks have left schools to do some self-policing.

Of the 41 recommendations in the 9/11 commission's report, none specifically addressed flight schools.