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US aviation database lacks key info
Source: Agencies |
December 11, 2010, Saturday
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THE US Federal Aviation Administration is missing key information on who owns one-third of the 357,000 private and commercial aircraft in America - a gap the agency fears could be exploited by terrorists and drug traffickers.
The records are in such disarray that the FAA says it is worried that criminals could buy planes without the government's knowledge, or use the registration numbers of other aircraft to evade new computer systems designed to track suspicious flights. It has ordered all aircraft owners to re-register their planes in an effort to clean up its files.
About 119,000 of the aircraft on the US registry have "questionable registration" because of missing forms, invalid addresses, unreported sales or other paperwork problems, according to the FAA. In many cases, the FAA cannot say who owns a plane or whether it is still flying.
Already there have been cases of drug traffickers using phony US registration numbers, as well as instances of mistaken identity in which police raided the wrong plane because of faulty record-keeping.
Next year, the FAA will begin canceling the registration certificates of all 357,000 aircraft and require owners to register anew, a move that is causing grumbling among airlines, banks and leasing companies. Notices went out to the first batch of aircraft owners last month.
"We're trying to eliminate as much risk as possible through the re-registration process," said FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown.
The FAA says security isn't the only reason it needs an up-to-date registry. Regulators use it to contact owners about safety problems, states rely on it to charge sales tax and some airports employ it to bill for landing fees. Rescuers also use it to track down missing planes.
There have already been cases of criminals using US registration numbers to disguise their airplanes. In 2008, Venezuela authorities seized a plane with the registration number N395CA and more than 680 kilograms of cocaine on board.
Soon afterward, airplane owner Steven Lathrop of Ellensburg, Washington, received a call from a reporter.
"He sort of started with, 'Do you know where your airplane is? ... Your airplane's in a jungle in South America,'" Lathrop said.
Lathrop's Piper Cheyenne II XL was locked up at the Ellensburg airport. The smugglers apparently used his tail number since the model was similar to their plane.
"Anybody with a roll of duct tape can put any number they want on an airplane," Lathrop said.
The records are in such disarray that the FAA says it is worried that criminals could buy planes without the government's knowledge, or use the registration numbers of other aircraft to evade new computer systems designed to track suspicious flights. It has ordered all aircraft owners to re-register their planes in an effort to clean up its files.
About 119,000 of the aircraft on the US registry have "questionable registration" because of missing forms, invalid addresses, unreported sales or other paperwork problems, according to the FAA. In many cases, the FAA cannot say who owns a plane or whether it is still flying.
Already there have been cases of drug traffickers using phony US registration numbers, as well as instances of mistaken identity in which police raided the wrong plane because of faulty record-keeping.
Next year, the FAA will begin canceling the registration certificates of all 357,000 aircraft and require owners to register anew, a move that is causing grumbling among airlines, banks and leasing companies. Notices went out to the first batch of aircraft owners last month.
"We're trying to eliminate as much risk as possible through the re-registration process," said FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown.
The FAA says security isn't the only reason it needs an up-to-date registry. Regulators use it to contact owners about safety problems, states rely on it to charge sales tax and some airports employ it to bill for landing fees. Rescuers also use it to track down missing planes.
There have already been cases of criminals using US registration numbers to disguise their airplanes. In 2008, Venezuela authorities seized a plane with the registration number N395CA and more than 680 kilograms of cocaine on board.
Soon afterward, airplane owner Steven Lathrop of Ellensburg, Washington, received a call from a reporter.
"He sort of started with, 'Do you know where your airplane is? ... Your airplane's in a jungle in South America,'" Lathrop said.
Lathrop's Piper Cheyenne II XL was locked up at the Ellensburg airport. The smugglers apparently used his tail number since the model was similar to their plane.
"Anybody with a roll of duct tape can put any number they want on an airplane," Lathrop said.
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