The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has informed the CAA that USA (N) registered aircraft that are registered through Southern Aircraft Consultancy Inc (Ltd) using a non-Citizen Trust Agreement (NCT) have been grounded with immediate effect as their Certificate of Registration is considered to be invalid.
Norwich based Southern Aircraft Consultancy is an aircraft registration company in the UK, and they claim to provide the customer with a fully Approved Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Trust Agreement.
As per UK Civil Aviation Authority, the lack of a valid Certificate of Registration may have implications on the mandatory insurance that the owners/operators of such aircraft are required to hold.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) statement read as,
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today officially notified Southern Aircraft Consultancy Inc. (SACI) that all its aircraft registration certificates are invalid because the company was in violation of U.S. citizenship requirements when it submitted the registration applications. The FAA instructed SACI to surrender all the certificates.
FAA added further,
SACI registered aircraft for U.S. citizens and foreign nationals using trust agreements. To register an aircraft using a trust agreement, the company/trustee must either be a U.S. citizen or a resident alien.
The FAA found that SACI violated FAA regulations regarding U.S. citizenship requirements and must return registration certificates to the FAA within 21 days of notification.
The invalid Certificates of Aircraft Registration will result in the immediate grounding of all aircraft registered to SACI. Owners/operators of affected aircraft should not fly their aircraft until they have complied with the FAA statement.
To operate legally, affected aircraft owners must reregister their aircraft either through another country’s aircraft registry or in the U.S. by submitting an Aircraft Registration Application to the FAA, along with evidence of ownership, and paying the registration fee ($5).
Aircraft owners will then have temporary authority to operate within the U.S. until the applicant receives a Certificate of Aircraft Registration or until the FAA denies the application.
Temporary authority does not extend to flights outside the U.S. An applicant for registration, who operates outside the U.S., may submit a Declaration of International Operations (DIO) at the time of application to receive expedited processing.
Dislplay picture credit: N101FK. (Richard Poeser, 19 juni 2021)
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