FAA mandate TSA checks before issuing student pilot certificates

Silvaire wrote:

fly solo without a medical certificate

As long as they have a student pilot certificate, yes. Today, a student pilot can fly up to solo without any certificate or medical. The solo endorsement requires a student certificate…now that the medical is no longer the student pilot certificate it appears flying solo without the medical is now possible.

USFlyer wrote:

now that the medical is no longer the student pilot license it appears flying solo without the medical is now possible.

I’ve seen no documentation to that effect, but were that the case, I’d love to see it in writing. The FAA 3rd class medical requirement for private pilots is as yet unchanged, it has passed only the Senate and has some way to go before becoming law in whatever form it evolves into after passing the House, conference etc.

If it were to become the the case, a student pilot with a non-expiring student pilot certificate and no medical requirement for solo flight could get an instructor logbook endorsement every 90-days, fly solo legally, and never have any further contact with FAA, forever.

I think the FAA Private Pilot student will be required to get an initial medical before solo and also a student pilot certificate, now separately. If he stops flying for a period of time (say 40 years ) then resumes flying, he will only need to deal with whatever medical requirement exists at that time, plus updated instructor logbook validations. The non-photo student pilot certificate will still be valid, just like an FAA private pilot certificate.

PS @Peter when you read an accident report that begins with “the 670 hr student pilot…. (etc)” you’ll understand that it may neither a misprint nor illegal!

I’ve always wondered about the TSA vetting – isn’t is pointless unless the whole word starts vetting student pilots?

A would-be criminal wanting to do something bad with a plane in the United States can just train elsewhere where there’s no vetting.

I think the TSA stuff is

• an attempt to show the US Govt is doing something, post 9/11
• empire building
• a move to push the terrorists onto other agencies’ turf (if you have to train abroad then you might get picked up on entering the USA, for which there is some sort of an established security process)
• empire building
• an attempt to show the US Govt is doing something, post 9/11

IMHO they have to do something to make it hard for terrorists to enter the airline pilot / cabin crew scene but the present system (as in the topic here) is probably not effective. And the cabin crew scene is by far the easiest entry point, with far fewer checks. Post-Germanwings, and with the cabin crew automatically entering the cockpit when one of the pilots take a leak, this is a blindingly obvious point.