A U.K.-based trust that operates an aircraft registration service allowing mostly non-American owners to maintain N-registrations on their planes says it’s scrambling to meet FAA requirements that grounded about 800 aircraft registered through its service. Southern Aircraft Consultancy told its customers Tuesday that a letter from the FAA came “as a complete shock” notifying the company that it did not meet the U.S. citizenship requirements that allow trustee firms to register aircraft in the U.S. The affected aircraft cannot be flown legally until they are reregistered. Their insurance may also be invalid. “The decision appears to have been made around the fact that the administration of all of the Trusts is carried out by staff based in the UK,” the company said in a letter to customers that was reprinted on the website of British aviation magazine FLYER. The magazine’s own Cessna 182 (N68IEW) has been grounded by the action. Foreign owners typically seek N-registrations for insurance, maintenance, and resale advantages.
Southern Aircraft Consultancy says it will transfer its entire business to a U.S.-based company to satisfy this latest interpretation of the residency requirements. It says it hopes to have more details on the plan in the next few days but is also helping clients dissolve their trust arrangement so they can resolve the issue on their own. To get back in the air, owners must either register the aircraft in another country or find another trust in the U.S. that meets FAA requirements. Although the trustee arrangement is mostly used by European and U.K. operators, there are some aircraft owned by American citizens that are also registered through Southern Aircraft Consultancy.
Once again, the FAA is concerned about something of no importance whatsoever, yet, dangerous conditions, like allowing Army helicopters to pass within 200 feet of airliners? Not such a big deal to them.
Under U.S. law, ownership of U.S.-registered aircraft is restricted to U.S. citizens and qualifying U.S. entities. In general, non-U.S. citizens and non-U.S. corporations are not permitted to own aircraft registered in the United States. Given those restrictions, it follows logically that a UK-based company would not be eligible to serve as trustee for a U.S.-registered aircraft. In that context, transferring the business to a U.S.-based company is both reasonable and consistent with the regulations.