One of the men charged under the Anti-terrorism Act in southern Ontario on the weekend attended an aviation program at a Toronto college — but not to learn to fly, CBC News has learned.

Amin Durrani, one of 17 people arrested in a massive police sweep on June 2-3, had enrolled in a flight school at Centennial College as part of the school's aircraft maintenance program, school officials said on Thursday.

Public fears had been fuelled by earlier, incorrect reports in the media that he had been taking flight training, especially since police officials said the suspects were inspired by al-Qaeda.

Some of the al-Qaeda members who hijacked aircraft in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, and turned them into flying bombs had earlier taken flight training as part of their preparation for the attacks.

"This is taught in our Scarborough location in a hanger that we have on campus, but there is no means of flight, nor are our technicians licensed to fly," Mark Toljagic, a spokesman for Centennial, told CBC News.

"This is a program that is licensed and certified by Transport Canada and there are strict rules about what can and cannot happen in the teaching situation."

Durrani only attended for one semester, Toljagic said.

An allegation in a Crown document contends that some of the 12 men and five youth who were arrested had discussed using an airplane to carry out an attack.

None of the charges have been proven in court.