FLIGHT SCHOOL SECURITY
House Bill 4704
Sponsor: Rep. Stephen Ehardt
Committee: Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security
Complete to 5-29-03
A SUMMARY OF HOUSE BILL 4704 AS INTRODUCED 5-20-03
Public Acts 258 and 318 of 2002 amended the Aeronautics Code to require a flight school to request a criminal history check from the Department of State Police, and a criminal records check through the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), on any applicant for training at the flight school. They also restricted access to flight schools based on recent criminal history.
House Bill 4704 would repeal the above provisions and, instead, require a flight school to develop a security program acceptable to the State Aeronautics Commission designed to limit accessibility to, and to ensure the security of, the aircraft on the ground and used by the school.
A security program would have to include procedures for positively identifying student pilots and renter pilots as a precondition to allowing access to aircraft; procedures for control of aircraft ignition keys that prevent operation of an aircraft by a student pilot that was not in the presence of or under the authorization of a flight instructor or other authorized individual; and instructional procedures that ensured close student pilot supervision.
In addition, the security program would have to include instructional materials that identified and offered examples of types of suspicious activity at or near an airport, and that advised students and renter pilots how to report such activity to local law enforcement and the appropriate federal authorities. The security program would also have to include the prominent display of signs requesting student pilots to report any suspicious activity, including telephone numbers for the proper authorities.
MCL 259.85 and 259.85a
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House staff for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.