Aircraft owner lookup: who owns that plane?
Whether it's the Gulfstream that visits every summer, a Bonanza you're about to make an offer on, or a jet in the news, "who owns that plane?" has a public answer. Every US-registered aircraft's owner is on file with the FAA, and pulling it takes seconds once you have the tail number.
The interesting part is what you find there. A large share of aircraft — nearly all jets — are registered to LLCs and owner trusts rather than people. This guide covers the lookup itself, and how to read through the entity on the paperwork to the practical answer.
The basic lookup
In AvDB, type the tail number into Registry search and the owner is on the record — name, city, and state — along with everything else the FAA holds on the airframe. It works the other direction too: search an owner's name and get every aircraft registered to them, something the FAA's own site makes surprisingly hard.
When the owner is an LLC or a trustee bank
See “N123AB LLC,” a Delaware entity, or a trustee bank on the registration and you've met aviation's standard paperwork. Owner trusts are common — and often required when the beneficial owner isn't a US citizen, since the FAA requires citizenship for direct registration. LLCs are routine liability and tax structuring. None of it is inherently evasive; it's simply how aircraft are held.
The entity still tells you things. The state of formation, the trustee's name, the aircraft's base airport, and its movement patterns usually assemble the practical picture. For due-diligence work — claims, disputes, purchases — the registration entity is the starting node, not the dead end.
Ownership at a moment in time
Sometimes the question isn't who owns it — it's who owned it then. Insurance investigators and attorneys hit this constantly: the registry shows today's owner, but the claim, the accident, or the lien dates from three owners ago.
This is a place AvDB is genuinely different. Open any NTSB accident report in the app and the owner shown is the owner at the time of the accident, joined from historical records — not today's registrant pasted onto an old event. For an airframe with a long life, that distinction is the whole story.
Etiquette and legitimacy
Aircraft registration data is public by federal design — safety, commerce, and accountability depend on it. Looking up an owner is as legitimate as checking a property record. The community norm is the obvious one: research aircraft, respect people.
Frequently asked questions
Can I find out who owns a plane by its tail number?+
Yes — for US aircraft the registered owner is public record. Search the tail number in AvDB and the owner appears on the aircraft's registry record.
Why is a plane registered to a bank?+
It's an owner trust — the bank holds legal title as trustee, most often because the beneficial owner isn't a US citizen (the FAA requires citizenship for direct registration). The operator is someone else.
Can I search aircraft by owner name?+
Yes — AvDB's registry search takes names like any other term, including quoted phrases, and returns every aircraft registered to that person or company.
Can I see who owned an aircraft at the time of an old accident?+
AvDB's NTSB records show the owner at the time of the accident — not today's owner — which is exactly what claims and legal research usually need.
Run it in AvDB
The whole federal record, one search box
Every lookup in this guide is a single search in AvDB — free to download, with free searches every month.