Expert: D. Norkus - 6/9/2007

Question
I am an Indian citizen on L2 visa in USA.I am exploring the option of doing Commertial Pilot Training and Certification .Please advice me on the following:

-Restriction/requirement for foreign national to do flight training in USA?
-Is the certification valid internationaly. will I be able to pursue my flying career in both India and USA?
-Which are the institutes that offer courses to foreign national?  

Answer
1) Restriction/requirement for foreign national to do flight training in USA?

All the requirements and restictions can be found in the Transportation Security Administrations/TSA "Alien Flight Training Rule" at this website- http://www.flightschoolcandidates.gov

The Aircraft Owner & Pilot Association explaination of how the rule works works-
http://www.aopa.org/tsa_rule/

2) Is the certification valid internationaly. will I be able to pursue my flying career in both India and USA?

No. When you get certificated in the United States, you have Federal Aviation Administration/FAA pilots certificates. To fly in any other country, you will need to convert your certificates in that or for in Europe obtain JAA certificates.


3) Which are the institutes that offer courses to foreign national?

I can't say but you can find a list of approved flight schools via the AFTR link above. There are very few schools out of the thousands in the USA that are permitted to do the flight training of foreign nationals.


As far as a pilot career in India, you should visit these sites-

Basair- http://www.indianpilot.com/
"Basair is located in Sydney, Australia and specializes in airline pilot training for students from India."

I also suggest this similarly spelled web site (with an "S" on the end) created just for for aspiring Indian aviators
http://www.indianpilots.com

Tristar Aviation Flight Academy -http://www.indianpilottraining.com/
Offers interviews with SpiceJet for all Indian students who completed Tristar Training

Try these links and their message forums for info about Indian airline pilot cadet schemes and sponsorships-
http://www.pprune.org
http://www.askcaptainlim.com

The International Organization of Women Pilots is where you should go for assistance in getting started. They offer mentorship and scholarship opportunities to female pilots.
Since you are currently in the USA, I suggest finding a local chapter of the organization here-
http://www.ninety-nines.org/sections.html

They also have a group in India. To contact the Indian group via Email, write- chandab99@hotmail.com


Good Luck!
Dottie