TSA has issued Title 49 of the United States Code of Federal Regulations Part 1552 that prohibits a flight school from providing flight training in an aircraft or aircraft simulator to non-U.S. Citizens without TSA approval. Under this Rule pilots must create and maintain a TSA account at https://www.fts.tsa.dhs.gov/home. Based on these details TSA will determine that the candidate is not a threat to aviation or national security and issue permission to train.
TSA applications should be made at least 60 days prior to your scheduled training event.
Category 1 For pilots who do not have a heavy type rating (over 12,500 lbs.) on their FAA or foreign airman certificate. Please select the preferred language to view the Initial Type Rating TSA Approval Process: English | Spanish
Category 2 For pilots who do have a heavy type rating (over 12,500 lbs.) on their FAA or foreign airman certificate, but are training in an aircraft they are not currently qualified in. Please select the preferred language to view the Initial Type Rating TSA Approval Process: English | Spanish
Category 3 For pilots training in any aircraft with a MTOW of 12,500 lbs. or less. (Note: in many cases Category 3 is waived and no TSA application is required. Check with your learning center.)
Category 4 For pilots who are training in aircraft with a MTOW over 12,500 lbs. that they are already qualified in, for example recurrent training. No fingerprints are required. View the Recurrent TSA Approval Process: English | Spanish
FlightSafety offers free assistance to our customers in the creation of online TSA accounts. TSA accounts can be difficult to create properly with errors resulting in a delay of TSA approval. It is strongly recommended that you contact FlightSafety International’s TSA Assist Team to review your online TSA account information.
TSA Resources Account Request Most Frequent TSA Application Error Corrections FAQ Flight School Candidates TSA.gov
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