A pre-purchase review needs both an inspection of the aircraft and a review of its records. Before committing to the purchase, agree with the maintenance reviewer which records are needed, what remains unproven and how any gap will be resolved.

An aircraft can look sound while its records leave the remaining life of a part uncertain. Equally, an orderly file cannot rule out corrosion or an incorrectly installed component. The two checks need to inform each other.

Why the records affect the decision

Global Jet Capital's Q2 2026 Market Brief reports that first-half pre-owned transaction volume fell 7.5% in units while rising 7% in dollar value year over year. It attributes that divergence partly to demand for heavy jets and warns that the transaction data is preliminary because of reporting delays. This is market context, not a valuation of the aircraft you are considering.

The practical question is what the buyer can establish about that aircraft. A missing service-history link can leave uncertainty about a component's remaining life or whether required work was completed. Resolve that uncertainty with the maintenance reviewer before deciding what the aircraft is worth to you.

Start with the status the records must establish

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) sets US maintenance record rules. For an aircraft subject to the Part 91 rules discussed here, 14 CFR 91.417(a)(2) identifies records that must be retained and transferred at sale. The main checks are:

  • Time and component life. Establish total time in service for the airframe, engines, propellers and rotors, the current status of life-limited parts, and time since overhaul for items subject to a specified overhaul interval. A life-limited part must be removed when its approved limit is reached; an uncertain history can prevent a reliable calculation of the life remaining.
  • Inspection status. Identify the inspection program used and the time since the last required inspection. Read the relevant entries and compare them with the aircraft's current status.
  • Airworthiness directives. An AD is a mandatory rule addressing an unsafe condition. Check each applicable AD's number and revision, how compliance was achieved, and, for recurring actions, the time and date of the next required action.
  • Major alterations. Review the required major-alteration forms for the airframe and currently installed equipment, normally FAA Form 337, together with the applicable approval data. Match modifications such as an avionics installation to what is physically present.

A summary prepared by the seller is a useful starting point. The reviewer should check the underlying evidence for the status it claims rather than treating the summary itself as sufficient proof.

How much history does a life-limited part need?

A full trail back to manufacture is not a universal FAA requirement for every life-limited part. In its July 18, 2009 interpretation to Phoenix Heliparts, the FAA explained that records must establish current life status with sufficient certainty. Tracing back to origin is required where the available records are so incomplete that the elapsed life cannot otherwise be determined accurately.

A buyer or lender may request more evidence as a condition of the deal. Separate that contractual request from the regulatory requirement. If the status remains uncertain, have the reviewer identify the affected part and the information or action needed to establish its status; do not invent a remaining-life figure.

Read the entries and the documents behind them

Maintenance and inspection entries identify what was done, when, and who approved it. The relevant requirements differ: 14 CFR 43.9 covers ordinary maintenance entries, while 43.11 covers the specified inspections, including annuals.

When identity or authority needs checking, compare the entry with the certificate presented and the FAA's public information about the person. The FAA does not publish certificate numbers, so its public search is not a certificate-number lookup. The annual-inspection guide explains how to check the person and the authority held on the signing date.

For parts, ask the maintenance reviewer which release and traceability documents are required for the particular item and installation. FAA Form 8130-3 and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency's EASA Form 1 are important release documents in their respective systems, but neither is universally required for every installed part. Production routes and the evidence they need vary, as the FAA explains in AC 20-62E, Change 1. A document must also match the part it accompanies. Where its source or contents are doubtful, check with the issuing organization through an independently obtained contact.

Agree what happens when evidence is missing

In this fictional example, a buyer receives an engine logbook and a summary showing a life-limited part's remaining time. The transfer entry for that part is missing. The reviewer cannot yet reconcile the summary with the source records.

The useful next step is to ask the seller and prior maintenance provider for that record and have the reviewer assess any reconstruction. The gap does not, by itself, prove fraud or automatically make the sale unlawful. If the necessary status still cannot be established, the buyer needs a concrete response, such as further investigation or an agreed replacement, before accepting the unresolved risk. The appropriate action depends on the actual part and applicable requirements.

Record the open point, the person responsible for resolving it and the evidence needed. This is clearer for the buyer than a general warning that the logbooks are incomplete.

Make the handover explicit

Retention and transfer are related but different. Under 91.417(b)(1), ordinary maintenance and inspection records have a retention rule tied to the work being repeated or superseded, or one year after the work. The status records in 91.417(a)(2) must be retained and transferred with the aircraft under 91.417(b)(2).

For sale of a US-registered aircraft, 14 CFR 91.419 also requires transfer of the maintenance and inspection records in paragraph (a)(1). The buyer may allow the seller to keep physical custody of that latter category, but remains responsible for making required records available for inspection by the FAA or the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). This does not turn every shop worksheet ever created into a permanent aircraft record.

List the records being handed over, the format, any agreed custody arrangement and the unresolved items. Preserve the actual files and the evidence used to check them. A digital fingerprint, a value calculated from a file, can help identify later changes to a saved file; it cannot fill a missing service history or prove an old entry was true. Our guide to preserving independently verifiable documents covers that narrower file check.