Questions & answers
Everything about using AvDB — searching aircraft, pilots, accident reports, and airports. For step-by-step walkthroughs, see the lookup guides.
About the app
What is AvDB?+
AvDB is an aviation database app for iPhone. It puts the full federal aviation record behind one search box: 600,000+ aircraft registrations, over a million FAA airmen, every NTSB accident report back to 1948, 47,000 airports, airline fleets, and a complete aircraft encyclopedia. Type what you know — a tail number, an owner, a certificate and an airport — and every word narrows the result.
Is AvDB free?+
AvDB is free to download and includes free searches every month across all six record sets. Subscriptions raise your search limits and unlock more — and one subscription works across the whole AviatorDB family, including SpotterLog and aviatordb.com.
Where does AvDB's data come from?+
Official public records: the FAA aircraft registry, the FAA airmen registry, NTSB accident investigations, and the FAA airport facility directory — synced continuously, and enriched with data the raw federal files don't include, like geocoded airman distances, IA endorsements, and each aircraft's last known ADS-B position.
Is AvDB an official FAA or NTSB app?+
No — AvDB is an independent app built on the official public records those agencies publish. What it adds is the search: any-order queries, exact counts, distance sorting, and cross-links the government tools don't offer.
What platforms does AvDB run on?+
AvDB is built for iPhone. Your account is shared across the AviatorDB family — the same login works in SpotterLog and on aviatordb.com, and your favorites follow you between them.
Aircraft lookups
Can I look up any tail number?+
Yes — every current FAA registration resolves to its full record: aircraft, owner, status, airworthiness, engine, Mode S code, and last known position on a map. And you don't need the tail number: owner names, models, and locations all work as search terms, in any order.
Can I find out who owns a plane?+
For US aircraft, the registered owner is public record and shows on every registry result. When the paperwork says an LLC or a trustee bank, the record still tells you plenty — and AvDB's accident records even show who owned an aircraft at the time of past events.
Can AvDB tell me how many of a model are registered?+
Yes — every search shows the true total, so the count is the answer. “SR22 OH” tells you exactly how many SR22s are registered in Ohio right now. Even the FAA's own tools can't produce that number.
What about aircraft that are no longer registered?+
Deregistered records stay searchable — with the reason (exported, scrapped, re-registered, expired) and dates, so a vanished N-number still resolves and the airframe can be traced by serial number.
Pilots & mechanics
Can I look up a pilot's certificate?+
Yes — over a million FAA airmen are searchable by name, certificate, aircraft type, and location. Records show certificates, ratings, type ratings, and medical class, straight from the public registry.
Can I verify a drone pilot's Part 107 certificate?+
Yes — remote pilots are certificated airmen, so a name search shows whether a Part 107 certificate exists. It's the check every business hiring a drone operator should run.
Can I find A&P mechanics or IAs near my airport?+
Yes — and this is data you won't find elsewhere: AvDB geocodes airman addresses and sorts by real miles from any airport, with Inspection Authorization flagged on each record. “A&P KPWK” is literally the list of mechanics nearest Palwaukee.
How is AvDB's airmen search different from the FAA's?+
The FAA's inquiry needs an exact last name and offers no location or certificate filters. AvDB searches any-order terms — certificate, type, airport, city, name — sorts by real distance, and flags IA endorsements the raw FAA files don't even contain.
Accidents & NTSB
How do I find an NTSB accident report?+
Pick the NTSB source and describe the accident in plain words — tail number, make and model, city, state, year, or severity (“fatal Mooney 1967”). Reports open in full: factual, analysis, probable cause, and pilot experience.
How far back do the accident records go?+
To 1948 — the full federal accident file, further back than the NTSB's own public search reaches. Historic gear-ups and long-forgotten accidents are all in there.
Does AvDB show who owned the aircraft when the accident happened?+
Yes — each report shows the owner at the time of the accident, joined from historical records, not today's registrant. For insurance, legal, and purchase research, that's usually the fact that matters.
When are NTSB reports released after a crash?+
Preliminary reports typically post two to five weeks after the accident; final reports with probable cause usually take 12–24 months. Favorite the aircraft in AvDB and new records land in your Change Log automatically.
Tracking & your account
What is the Change Log?+
A 12-month running history of everything that happens to your favorited aircraft: ownership transfers, registration changes, and new accident records — each badged by source, gathered for you as they post.
Does AvDB work with SpotterLog?+
They're family. One account signs into both, favorites follow you across AvDB, SpotterLog, and aviatordb.com — and a favorited sighting can jump straight to your photo in SpotterLog.
How current is the data?+
Registry and airmen data sync continuously from the FAA's releases (the FAA updates each federal working day), NTSB records as they post, and aircraft positions from daily ADS-B snapshots.
The sky keeps records.
Now you can read them.
Free to download, with free searches every month. The full federal aviation record — one search box away.