Officials from the US National Test Pilot School (NTPS) in Mojave, California, held talks with State Department officials in Washington on 7 January in attempts to overturn a decision that has effectively closed the school - the world's largest for civilian test pilots.
The school is seeking a licence to teach non-US test pilots after the State Department found that no such licence was held. The NTPS says its original request for a licence was deemed unnecessary by government officials.
The problem emerged when four Pakistani test pilots requested visas to attend a course. The State Department said the school was not licensed and could be supplying information about US weapons systems to foreign nationals.
Source: Flight International
