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FAA registry vs. NTSB records: what each database tells you

TailLookup · updated Jul 7, 2026

The FAA registry tells you what an aircraft is and who it's registered to (make, model, serial, owner, status); the NTSB database tells you what happened to it (accidents and investigations since 1962). A complete history check needs both — and neither contains logbooks, hours, or unreported damage.

Two federal databases hold the public history of a US aircraft, and they answer different questions.

The FAA Aircraft Registry

The registry answers what is this aircraft and whose is it: make, model, serial number, year, engine, registered owner and address, certificate dates, and registration status. The FAA publishes a fresh copy every day — and keeps no history. Yesterday’s file is gone unless someone archived it. (TailLookup archives it daily, which is how we show ownership changes over time — see the methodology.)

The NTSB accident database

The NTSB database answers what happened to it: civil aviation accidents and selected incidents from 1962 to the present, with dates, locations, injuries, and probable-cause findings.

The gaps

Neither database contains maintenance logbooks, airframe or engine hours, liens and title history, or damage never reported to a federal agency. Any service claiming to show those from public data is guessing. The federal paper trail is the free, verifiable first step; logbooks and a pre-purchase inspection are the rest — the full checklist.

Frequently asked

Does the FAA registry include accident history?
No. The registry is purely registration data. Accident records live in the separate NTSB database, which is why merged services exist.
Does the FAA keep historical registry data?
No — the FAA publishes a fresh file daily and keeps no public archive. Ownership history must be reconstructed from archived snapshots and the deregistered-aircraft file.
Are there aircraft records in neither database?
Yes: maintenance logbooks, airframe and engine hours, liens and title documents, and any damage never reported to a federal agency.

Cite: TailLookup, “FAA registry vs. NTSB records: what each database tells you”, https://taillookup.com/guides/faa-registry-vs-ntsb (updated 2026-07-07).

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