Bill Aims To 'Clearly' Identify Aircraft Owners

Proposed legislation aimed at clearly identifying the owner of an aircraft is now winding its way through Congressional subcommittee debate. The Aircraft Ownership Transparency Act of 2017 (H.R.3544) requires that the “beneficial” owner of an aircraft must be clearly identified before that aircraft can be FAA registered.

Introduced last month by Stephen Lynch (D-Massachusetts), the bill is primarily a response to a DOT IG report that is critical of the FAA registration oversight and cites examples of illicit activity tied to aircraft registered on behalf of foreign trustors. Lynch also sees the legislation as a partial solution to some of the issues raised in a recent Boston Globe special report on the alleged failures of the FAA’s oversight of aircraft registration and pilot certification responsibilities.

The legislation defines a “beneficial” owner as a person who, directly or indirectly, exercises control over the aircraft through “ownership interests, voting rights, agreements, or otherwise; or has an interest in or receives substantial economic benefits from the assets of the covered entity.” In the case of an aircraft owned or controlled by more than one entity, the legislation requires identification of the relationship between entities. Additionally, in the case of a trust or association, the legislation calls for the “chain of control,” including the owner, trustee, and beneficiary.