TSA Takes Over Threat Assessments for Flight School Training

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has announced that it will be requiring a security threat assessment for each non-citizen applying for training at U.S.-based flights schools.

According to the announcement, the assessment will not take into account type or size of the aircraft the person is training on, but will instead perform an assessment on all non-citizens seeking training.

The program up the current threat assessment program which only conducts threat assessments on non-citizens seeking learn training on commercial planes or planes weighing 12,5000 pounds or more.

TSA takes over the screening program from the Justice Department, and is expected to streamline the screening process, from 45 days to 30 days for most applicants, and significantly less than that -- in some cases five days.

The TSA also announced that flight schools will submit a student's photograph to TSA to confirm that the student reporting for flight training was the same individual who underwent the security assessment. A $130 application fee will be paid for by the non-citizen to apply toward costs associated with the assessment. The TSA will also require that schools provide "security awareness training" to certain staff members. To help schools with the awareness training, the TSA will be providing online education tools via the agency website, www.tsa.gov.