The Federal Aviation Administration has a problem. The agency is missing vital data on who owns about a third of the about 357,000 private and commercial aircraft in the United States. In normal times, that would be a bureaucratic nightmare. Nowadays, when fears about terrorists and drug trafficking and other criminal acts abound, the lack of information is at best disconcerting and at worst dangerous.
There’s little debate that the problem exists. The FAA admits that about 119,000 aircraft currently on the U.S. registry have “questionable registration.” In some cases, the forms are missing. In others, addresses are no longer valid or the sale of a plane from one owner to another has not been reported. The situation is so fouled up that the FAA apparently is unable to say in some cases whether a plane is still capable of flying or if it has been scrapped. In the words of one veteran pilot, the situation is “very, very scary.”
Officials rightly worry that criminals or terrorists could exploit the current situation by buying planes or appropriating the registration, or tail, numbers, of aircraft without the FAA’s knowledge. That’s not idle speculation. The FAA, other agencies and some pilots already have reported incidents in which drug traffickers have used fake numbers to their advantage. There also are reports of mistaken identity in which law enforcement officials have targeted the wrong plane because of poor record-keeping.
The registration system should be overhauled to promote safety in the skies and to thwart possible criminal acts. The FAA is tackling the task. It soon will start canceling the registration of all U.S. aircraft and require reregistration. The incremental process will take about three years. The goal is to significantly reduce problems tied to aircraft registration.
There is no assurance that will be the case. If it is to be effective, the FAA will have to revise the way it has done business. Previously, for example, the agency sent notices every three years asking aircraft owners to update contact information. That didn’t do much good. There was no punishment for failing to do so, and many owners simply did not take the time to return the paperwork. The FAA says that will no longer be the case.
Agency officials are confident — publicly at least — that required reregistration will be beneficial. They say that new computers and record-keeping systems will enhance tracking. Stricter enforcement accompanied by meaningful penalties for failure to abide by the law is on tap as well. The latter includes the loss of registration and grounding of a plane.
Those who own planes already are complaining about the rules. It’s true that the requirements are an inconvenience, but they are not onerous. They are, in fact, a small price to pay to clean up a system that now is open to exploitation by those intent on harming the United States or in breaking its laws.