Coronavirus and Potential Exposure Risks Posed by International Pilot Training at U.S. Airports

Miki Barnes
February 29, 2020

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued warnings about the high likelihood of a coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. Per the CDC, "It's not so much a question of if this will happen anymore, but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness." As of Feb. 27, 2020 there were 60 confirmed cases within the U.S.

COVID 19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, has taken a significant toll in other parts of the world with reports of more than 84,000 cases as of February 29, 2020, including 76,936 in China and 1,875 in other parts of the world. So far over 2,800 people have died worldwide. According to Peter Hotez of the Baylor College of Medicine,

"...we're talking about something that is maybe 10 to 20 times more lethal than typical seasonal influenza. So, that's really concerning, the fact that it's so highly transmissible, and it has that high case fatality rate."

Clearly, protecting U.S. residents from unnecessary exposure is essential in containing this serious and potentially life threatening illness.

There have been a number of reports about efforts to stem the spread by canceling commercial passenger flights in and out of China, but little if any mention about the risks posed by international flight training schools located throughout the U.S., many of which recruit heavily from China and other Asian countries. A 2017 National Air Transportation Association (NATA) posting stated that "Flight Schools in Oregon, Arizona and Illinois are reporting over 50 percent of their students are now from Chinese airlines." Five years ago, an Air and Space article reported that "Chinese airlines spend the equivalent of $162 million annually to send 80 percent of the student pilot candidates abroad: about 2,000 to the United States, the others to Europe and Australia."

In Oregon, the Port of Portland has a long history of promoting international pilot instruction, particularly at its publicly-funded general aviation airports in Hillsboro and Troutdale. At the same time, the Port routinely denies knowledge of who is training at these facilities though the website of one of its major tenants provides some clues. Hillsboro Aero Academy (HAA) claims that it has provided flight training to students from over 75 countries. In response to citizen efforts to gather specific data about numbers of students served and their countries of origin, HAA maintains that the information is "proprietary" and steadfastly refuses to make it available for public review. What is known, however, is that Hillsboro Aero Academy and Hillsboro Aviation, also located at HIO, have an extensive history of recruiting students from China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan – all countries linked to coronavirus outbreaks and deaths.

Due to the risk of a possible pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has emphasized the importance of preventing the spread of this highly contagious disease. Towards this end, the Port of Portland, the FAA, and Hillsboro Aero Academy, as well as Hillsboro Aviation, Hagele Aviation, and Christiansen Aviation (all companies that engage in flight training out of the Hillsboro Airport) should be required to provide a full accounting of who is training at these facilities, as well as detailed information about whether or not these foreign nationals, and those who have come into contact with them, have been adequately screened. The Aviation Sciences program at Portland Community College (PCC), which partners with Hillsboro Aero Academy and has a lengthy history of training Chinese students and other foreign nationals over our homes and neighborhoods, should also be required to fully disclose the countries of origin of all of their flight training students. In addition, health officials need to establish safeguards specific to this industry to protect the public.

Other Oregon airports of concerns are the Redmond Airport, where Hillsboro Aero Academy is training a contingent of Chinese pilots and Troutdale Airport where Hillsboro Aero Academy provides helicopter training to PCC students.

The ongoing indifference displayed by the FAA, Port of Portland, PCC and for-profit flight training businesses illustrates that the above named entities are more than willing to compromise the environment, health and well being of people throughout the community, despite the negative impacts. Indeed they have a long history of bludgeoning area residents with noise, pollution, lead emissions, safety and security risks posed by this incessant activity. For this reason it will be necessary to provide third party oversight to help insure that monetary gain and profiteering are not allowed to undermine efforts to protect the public from a potential pandemic.

In the interest of full disclosure about the risks posed by the schools and businesses providing pilot instruction in Washington County, throughout the state and around the country, the time has come to lift the shroud of secrecy that has for too long obscured the publicly subsidized, international flight training industry operating within the U.S.

Sources

McLaughlin, Elliot and Almasy, Steve. CDC Official Warns Americans It's Not a Question of if Coronavirus Will Spread, But When. CNN Podcast.(2/26/2020). Last accessed on 2/28/2020.

Nawaz, Amna. An Infectious Disease Specialist on What We Do and Don't Know About COVID-19. PBS News Hour. (2/27/2020). Last accessed on 2/28/2020.

COVID-19 Outbreak Update. Oregonian. (2/29/2020). Pgs. 1 and 8.

Culmone, Claudia. China's Aviation Growth Fuels U.S. Flight Schools. NATA Compliance Services Blog. (11/10/2017). Last accessed on 2/29/2020.

Emmett, Arielle. China Needs Pilots. (August 2015). Air and Space. Last accessed on-line 2/29/2020.