ELLSINORE, Mo.--Last week when a man stole a small plane that led federal authorities on a chase from Canada to Missouri, the incident reinvigorated the debate over security regulations for private planes.

Student pilot Adam Dylan Leon told authorities he was trying to commit suicide by persuading U.S. authorities to shoot him down, flying a Cessna 172 from Thunder Bay, Canada, through three states last Monday. The plane was tracked by U.S. military, border protection and aviation authorities until the pilot landed on a road here.

Since the 9/11 attacks, federal aviation authorities and airports have struggled with how general security aviation airports and small plane operators, including private business fleets, should be regulated when it comes to security. Ann Davis, a spokesperson with the Transportation Security Administration, said a notice published in the federal register in October 2008 suggested rules that would “ultimately require private aircraft in excess of 12,500 pounds” to vet all passengers against the terrorist watch list, and conduct background checks for pilots and crew members. But today, “the private aircraft industry is largely unregulated by TSA,” with the exception of charter aircraft, she said.

In its notice, published in the Federal Register last October, the Transportation Security Administration suggests that the improvements in safeguarding public air carriers have shown the weaknesses in private operations.

Chris Dancy, media relations director with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, said the general aviation community is wary of security guidelines considering “there is no specific threat. What appears to have happened is that we have gone from aaddressing a culture of credible threats to addressing conceivable threats. We have gone from ‘what is to what if.’ When you start asking ‘what if’, the only way to secure American airspace is to ground every plane.”

TSA held five public meetings around the country as part of its public comment period, which it closed five weeks ago, but Davis said the agency will look to gather “additional comments before moving forward.” Davis said the proposed rules would impact approximately 9,300 operators and pilots. Dancy said nearly 7,000 comments were submitted. “The overwhelming majority oppose the rule as proposed,” he said.

Davis said the general aviation community has been cooperative in working with TSA since the agency’s inception and has worked together on recommendations developed for private planes. But according to a notice on the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the proposal, also known as the Large Aircraft Security Program, has met with widespread opposition from the GA community as well as members of Congress. TSA officials on April 6 met with AOPA and other GA representatives to discuss concerns and alternatives but AOPA President Craig Fuller said in a statement that “we still have a lot of work to do to come up with a viable solution.”

“We are quite hopeful that we will see some changes to the notice of rulemaking,” Dancy said. “We don’t know exactly what is going to happen but [the TSA] has been talking to the industry.”