Validity of overseas Pilot’s certificates in the US
 

There is someone on the web who claims to be a pilot and to have worked in the past as a commercial pilot flying “heavy aircraft”. He implied, but did not state directly he had done so recently. The problem is that he is NOT listed in the FAA database. He was born in Asia and claims to have gone to university in Britain. He indicated he became a pilot after earning his degree and that he moved to the US (from the UK} in 1972, it is not clear if he claims to have become a pilot in the US or UK. So my questions are

• If he moved to the US in 1972 with a UK license could he have worked as a pilot without getting a document that would appear in the database?

• If so would there have been some sort of time limit (i.e. 6 months, 2 years etc}?

• Is it possible he got a US certificate back then but for some reason doesn’t show up in the online database? Anything is possible of course, but have any of you heard about old licensees not showing up?

This guy has made some controversial claims but I don’t want that to influence anyone’s answers.

Is it possible that he was flying a UK registered aircraft in the US? A number of airlines do that for wet leased aircraft etc. He therefore wouldn't have been registered in any FAA data base as such.

I don't think he could have been working for a British company. According to a mini bio he "...left Scotland for America in 1972. He lived in Alaska for 15 years..." how many company's were flying the London - Ancorage route back then?

He also claimed to have a “degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Edinburgh” but a} the school does not offer such a degree
b} it has not offered since at least 2002 (the oldest page I could find on the Internet Archive}
c} Google searches turned up no references to the university ever offering such a degree or anyone else claiming to have taught or studied the subject there.

So he seems to have been making up a background in aviation.