Photo courtesy KRGV TV
What he was doing was reckless. The plane he flew got dangerously close to 13 people on three different boats. He was a foreign national with only a tourist visa.
The U.S. Coast Guard indicated reports of a plane buzzing boats stopped after he was arrested. Now he's returned to Mexico, and the Willacy County, Texas' sheriff doesn't know how he will get the accused back in this country. The accused has thirteen felonies charged against him.
Would this be a Homeland Security issue? Did TSA pat him down?
Actually he was studying at Praat Flight Academy. Praat is a flight school, headquartered in Mexico, but offers flight training at Weslaco, Texas’ Mid-Valley Airport. Praat has operated under the radar in Weslaco for the past three years.
At Pratt, students are able to obtain a federal pilot certificate even though they aren't U.S. citizens, and then fly private or commercial planes. In the United States, foreign nationals can rent a plane and fly solo after working with a Pratt instructor. No questions asked.
"Over there (in Mexico), you can't practice flying," a spokewoman for the school explained.
“Mexico is a good neighbor of ours, but the issue of 9-11 was foreigners coming in and flying and being able to get access to planes,” says the area's Congressman Henry Cuellar. He is now calling for a government crackdown.
UPDATE: At least (as far as we know) the Mexican flight student wasn't trying for the mile high club.
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