Every aircraft on the FAA registry has a document index — a running list of bills of sale, security agreements, and releases recorded against it. It is public, it is free to search, and almost nobody checks it before buying.
What gets filed
- Bill of sale — filed when ownership changes hands. A recent one means exactly what it sounds like: this aircraft was just sold, or is being sold right now.
- Security agreement (a recorded lien) — filed when the aircraft is used as collateral for a loan. An active one means someone besides the seller has a legal claim on the airplane, and it needs to be released before a sale can close clean.
- Release — filed when a prior lien or agreement is satisfied and cleared.
- Less common filing types cover conditional sales, court decrees, and repossessions.
Why a recent filing is a signal worth reading
A tail with a fresh bill of sale or a newly recorded lien is telling you something specific: it is in motion right now. That is the exact pre-purchase moment this whole product category exists for. If you are looking at a used aircraft and its filing history shows a sale a few months ago, ask why it is already back on the market.
The honest limit
This index is a rolling window of roughly six months, not a permanent lien search. A quiet result means nothing has been recorded lately — it is not the same as "no liens exist," and it is not a substitute for a formal title search through a title company before closing. Think of it as a fast, free screen that tells you whether to look closer, not a legal clearance.
It is also filed once per party to the transaction, so the same sale can appear as more than one row with the same date. That is normal, not a data error.
Where to check it
The FAA's own Aircraft Registry inquiry tool shows filed documents for a given N-number. Our free lookup surfaces whether a recent filing exists as part of the tail number search, and the full $79 report lists the filing types and dates alongside the accident history — so you see the ownership signal and the damage signal in one place.