On Jun 10, 4:46 pm, Jose wrote:
My flight instructor is now insisting that he has to see and record my
birth certificate and passport before he can fly with me. To my
knowledge this is not required for American Citizens, only foreigners.
I need only show that I am an American Citizen, but don't have to submit
to recording.

Is this true? Where can I find the actual regulation?

Jose
--

The regs are vague. It uses language such as f'light school,
employees, supervisors etc.. as if all flight instruction only takes
place at large establishments. These regs were written by people who
have never seen a small airplane up close. Even part 61, which is
written by aviation experts, has a lot of holes, so it is not
reasonable to expect the TSA regs to make any kind of aviation sense.

To answer your question, yes it does say you have to keep a copy of
the passport or other document used to prove citizenship. It doesn't
say the copy has to be a photocopy. It could be a simple entry in the
instructor's records. But even if an over-zealous CFI wants to take a
photocopy, how many pages is he supposed to copy? Does he have to copy
all 24 pages, or just the first page?

I would love to see one of these cases turn into a legal battle. Would
the loose definitions used in the TSA regs stand up in court?