http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/09/dozens_of_forei.html<snips>
Dozens of foreign student pilots with questionable visas have been able to
slip between the cracks and gain entry to American flight schools, federal
officials tell ABC News.
An internal Homeland Security document obtained by ABC News, says the post
9-11 program to prevent terrorists from entering US flight schools has been
marked by "confusion and misinterpretations."
In a July, 2006 memo, the TSA complains the program has been flawed because
other agencies, including the Department of State, have provided
"conflicting and ambiguous" information about whether applicants had valid
visas for flight training.
The result, according to officials involved in the program, is that "dozens"
of foreign nationals have been able to receive pilot training and FAA
licenses without full background checks.
In a handful of other cases, according to officials, foreign nationals have
been able to enroll in flight schools and receive pilot training without any
TSA approval.
One FAA inspector described the case of an Iranian on a terror watch list
who was discovered training at a flight school in the South.
"He was training illegally, he had no TSA approval of any kind and we just
happened to stumble across him," the FAA inspector told ABC News.