Due diligence when buying a used aircraft: the complete checklist

1. Registration: who is the owner and who can sell

Start with the RAB (Brazil's civil aircraft registry, kept by ANAC). Check that the registered owner is the party signing the contract. If not, stop: under the Brazilian Aeronautical Code, ownership of the aircraft is acquired by recording the transfer title in the RAB and, by act between living persons, only passes on the date of recording (Law 7,565/1986, art. 115, item IV and §2). A seller who has not yet recorded their own acquisition has nothing to transfer.

Also look at the registration's status (normal, suspended, cancelled or reserved mark) and the difference between owner and operator. In business aviation it is common for the aircraft to sit in a holding company and be operated by another. That is not an irregularity, but it changes who signs what. The registration's page in Jet Tracker shows status, holder and operator when they are companies; the name of an individual is not shown. The succession of owners and operators over time is in the paid plans, and the plan price is on pricing.

2. Liens: debt that travels with the aircraft

A lien is an encumbrance recorded in the RAB: fiduciary lien (alienação fiduciária), mortgage, lease, court attachment. The law gives it practical weight. A fiduciary lien transfers to the creditor the defeasible title and indirect possession of the aircraft (art. 148) and is only valid once recorded in the RAB (art. 150). A mortgage is constituted by recording the contract in the RAB and by an annotation on the registration certificate (art. 141). In other words, what is on the registry is what counts, and the creditor is part of the conversation.

• Ask for the current status of the registry and check every entry, including the old ones.
• A paid-off lien needs to be released on the registry, not just declared as paid by the seller.
• If the plan is to pay off the debt with the sale proceeds, the flow and the order of payments go into the contract, with the creditor aware.

In Jet Tracker, the registration's public page shows whether a lien is recorded, and whoever monitors the aircraft gets an alert when a lien is added, released or changed. More on monitoring in how to monitor an aircraft by registration.

3. CVA: the certificate that clears operation

CVA is the Airworthiness Verification Certificate. It is not the Certificate of Airworthiness (CA) and it is not the annual inspection: it is the document that attests the airworthiness verification was done and that is presented to ANAC. According to Supplementary Instruction IS No. 91.403-001, revision E (ANAC, Ordinance No. 18,480/SPO, Dec 19, 2025), no one may operate an aircraft unless a CVA has been presented to ANAC (item 3.6, based on RBAC 91, section 91.403, paragraphs (e) and (f)).

The interval is annual for most of the fleet. The three-year exception applies to aircraft maintained under a continuing airworthiness maintenance program (CAMP), as provided in RBAC 121 or in paragraph 135.411(a)(2) of RBAC 135 (RBAC 91, section 91.403, paragraphs (e) and (f); IS 91.403-001, item 3.6). For a privately used jet, the rule is annual. In air charter, it depends on whether the aircraft is maintained under a CAMP. The criterion applies from January 1, 2026, and a CVA issued up to Dec 31, 2025 follows the validity of the previous rule (item 8.1 of the IS).

What to check: the CVA's validity and whether it covers the planned transfer date. A CVA expired for months is the classic sign of a parked aircraft and accumulated maintenance. The validity shows on the registration's page in Jet Tracker, and the alert for a CVA about to expire or already expired is one of those monitoring sends.

4. Logbooks, hours and cycles: what the verification checks

IS 91.403-001 itself shows what an inspector checks when verifying an aircraft, and works as a roadmap for the buyer. Under item 6.1.1, verifying airworthiness means establishing, through documents and a physical check, among other points, that:

• the documentation is correct, per sections 91.203 and 91.417 of RBAC 91;
• major alterations and major repairs were done with approved technical data;
• the applicable airworthiness directives were complied with;
• the maintenance program inspections are up to date;
• there are records of total flight time of the airframe, engines, propellers and rotors, and of cycles where applicable;
• the weight and balance sheet is current.

Item 6.1.3 recommends that whoever verifies have at hand the records since manufacture, such as airframe, engine and propeller logbooks, major overhaul reports, authorized release certificates and airworthiness directive compliance records. For the buyer, the reading is the same: a logbook with a gap is an aircraft with a history nobody can prove, and what is not recorded has to be redone at your expense.

Hours and cycles are outside the RAB: the registry does not publish airframe or engine hours. That information comes from the logbook and the listing, and it is what the buyer has to cross-check. Beware of the idea that low hours are always a good sign: an aircraft parked for years calls for checking what the hangar did to it. Jet Tracker has no measured median of hours by model to cite here.

5. Airworthiness directives (ADs)

Airworthiness directives are mandatory orders for inspection or modification within defined deadlines. In Brazil, the subject is covered by RBAC 39, "Airworthiness directives" (ANAC), and compliance with the applicable ones is one of the points of the airworthiness verification (IS 91.403-001, item 6.1.1). The documentary proof is the directive compliance records (item 6.1.3).

Ask for the list of directives applicable to the airframe, engines and equipment, with compliance status and the next recurrences. An expensive recurring directive weighs on the cost of operating and enters the negotiation: who pays for the next one is a legitimate point for a price adjustment. Jet Tracker does not keep a list of directives by model, and the recurring cost they generate shows up, at most, built into the operating cost estimates in the cost of keeping a business jet.

6. Maintenance and engine programs

An engine on an hourly maintenance program (third-party ones such as JSSI, and engine manufacturers' own, among others) makes the overhaul cost predictable. What the buyer needs to establish is the fine print of the program on that engine: the statement with hours and balance, whether payments are current and, above all, whether the program is transferable to the new owner and under what conditions. A program that does not pass to the buyer stops counting in the price. Without a program, ask for the records to calculate how much time is left until the next major overhaul and discount for it.

7. Damage and accident history

Repaired and documented structural damage does not disqualify the aircraft. Omitted damage or an unrecorded repair does. Ask in writing for the damage history and the records of structural repairs. If the seller guarantees it "never had anything", dig deeper. In the Jet Tracker valuation, the tool consults a base of occurrences (CENIPA, NTSB and ASN) for the registration, with partial coverage: it does not replace the damage history documented in the aircraft's records, and a clean result there does not prove the absence of damage.

8. Pre-purchase inspection (pre-buy)

The pre-buy is the technical pre-purchase inspection, done by a shop the buyer chooses, never one recommended by the seller. It usually includes a document review, structural inspection, systems tests and engine borescope, depending on the model. It is market practice, not a step provided for in the regulations cited in this guide. Even so, it is the step that finds the most that was hidden, and the report becomes a basis for negotiation: every documented finding becomes a price adjustment, a correction before delivery or a reason to walk away. Approved repair stations are listed in ANAC-approved repair stations.

9. Closing safely

With the dossier assembled (registration, liens, CVA, logbooks, directives, programs, damage and the pre-buy report), compare each item against the listing. A mismatch becomes a discount or a condition. Make the offer with conditions precedent, so the deal only closes if the pre-buy and the certificates come back as expected. The contract is for a lawyer specialized in aviation law, with clauses on liens, documentary condition and who bears the findings. An escrow account with release tied to the recording of the transfer protects the payment.

After signing, ownership is only yours when the title is recorded in the RAB, and the buyer has a deadline to request transcription. Each party's deadlines are in the seller's guide.

What an online lookup solves and what it does not

In short: the online lookup covers what is in the public registry and what can be cross-checked with listings. What depends on paper stored in a hangar or on a tool in the mechanic's hand is still checked in the field.

How long it takes and how much it costs

It depends on the model, the availability of documents and the shop's schedule. Jet Tracker has no measured average time or cost of due diligence, and for that reason this guide cites no number. Ask the shop for a pre-buy quote and ask for a quote from whoever you hire for legal advice. The principle is the same in any price range: the cost of verification is a fraction of the aircraft's value, and saving on it is the expensive mistake.