Terrorists, Crooks Allowed to Keep FAA Pilot's Licenses

abcnews ^ | Dec. 18, 2009 | ERIC LONGABARDI and JOSEPH RHEE

[opentalk]

bipartisan group of U.S. senators has asked the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Inspector General to investigate why suspect individuals – including terrorists and drug kingpins – have been able to retain their Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) pilot's licenses.

In a letter to DHS Inspector General Richard Skinner, the senators cited media reports, including an ABC News investigation, that questioned the ability of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to purge the FAA's aviation list of individuals posing a threat to transportation security.

In one high-profile case reported by the Blotter, a well-known drug boss named Fernando Zevallos Gonzalez was able to keep his U.S. aviation license despite being on a "black list" of foreign drug kingpins since 2004.

The Blotter also reported the names of two other men tied to drug trafficking and two convicted arms traffickers who still had their licenses as of Oct. The New York Times revealed that individuals charged or convicted of terrorism-related crimes were also able to retain their FAA licenses.

After 9/11, the TSA was charged with vetting the approximately four million people who hold FAA pilot's licenses of various kinds. The letter calls on the DHS Inspector General to identify weaknesses in the current vetting process and to investigate whether the TSA is properly cross-referencing the FAA's aviation list with other terrorist screening databases.

[blackdog]

Sheesh! Considering that you don't need a license to drive a car, I'm not quite sure what threat letting terrible people have a pilot's license is going to do?

A pilot's license is only valid or current based on the pilot's medical certificate. Expired medical? You're grounded. None of which means jack squat to anyone who is motivated by criminal activity. The only way to prevent anyone with really bad intentions from flying a plane is to incarcerate them or lobotomize them under our new heathcare legislation.

I wonder what counting the stitches on this curveball is really about?

[hometoroost]

Who else is going to pilot Pelosi and Obama’s planes.

[SkyDancer]

I bet half the pilots in AK don’t have licenses. At one airport where I work they come down from time to time to >get< their license for one reason or other .... BTW, they’re called Airman Certificates not pilot licenses (FAA Form 8710-11, Airman Certificate ).... I like to joke with people saying I don’t have a pilots license esp. when we’re at FL350 or so ....

[no-s]

I wonder what counting the stitches on this curveball is really about?

It's only useful as a stick to use on the law-abiding. To make you miserable or ruin your livelihood the bureaucrat need only add your name to a list. Unless of course, you cooperate.

A guarantee of due process of law is a useless protection against this sort of nonsense, since the gov't may enjoy all the process it wants at the expense of your lifetime.