A government-run pilot training program will stop accepting applicants from the Middle East as a security measure following terrorist attacks in the U.S., a senior official said Saturday. Major Prayong Suksai, vice president of the Civil Aviation Institute, said many pilot trainees had come from the Middle East and elsewhere because of the institute's relatively low fees. The institute has become a key commercial pilot training center in the region.
It was a temporary policy, justified by current world tensions, he said. The temporary ban will become effective January.

Hijackers who struck the U.S. Sept. 11 received pilot training at commercial flying schools. Bureau Report