[Just The News] The U.S. Senate is raising fresh concerns about Chinese pilots training in U.S. flight schools as potential national security risks and an avenue for an adversary’s military to gain vital insights into U.S. aviation practices.
In a letter this month, Senator Jim Banks, R-Ind., who sits on the Armed Services Committee, asked the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to revise its guidelines to exclude any prospective pilots from “foreign adversary nations” from studying in American flight schools.
On 9/11, Mohamed Atta, an Egyptian citizen, was the pilot who flew American Airlines flight number 11 into the Trade Center's North Tower. Marwan Alshehhi, a citizen of the United Arab Emirates, crashed United Airlines flight number 35 into the South Tower. Both took lessons at Huffman Aviation International, a small flight training school in Venice, Florida.
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