Regulations and Government
FAA Grounding Places Spotlight on Trust Selection
Some 650 aircraft were grounded when the FAA found that the SACI trust didn't meet citizenship requirements
parked aircraft Las Vegas
Some 650 aircraft were grounded when the FAA found that the SACI trust didn’t meet citizenship requirements. © Mariano Rosales/AIN

The FAA took the business aviation community by surprise when it issued a notification in mid-January that all of the aircraft registration certificates under the trustee Southern Aircraft Consultancy Inc. (SACI) were invalid because the firm was in violation of U.S. citizen requirements when it submitted the registration applications. The net result was the immediate grounding of nearly 650 aircraft, including 52 turboprops, business jets, and turbine helicopters.

SACI, which was based in the UK, was instructed to surrender its certificates of registration (COR), and affected aircraft owners were told to re-register their aircraft through another country’s aircraft registry or through the FAA with evidence of ownership that meets U.S. citizenship requirements before resuming operations.

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