Fresh on the heels of reports that partner Brad Pitt has bought himself a Spitfire, actress-pilot Angelina Jolie’s name splashed across page 6 of the New York Post with an aviation-related story. “Angelina’s Plane Grounded by the FAA” was the headline. Lurid as that sounds, it appears to be no more than a complex paperwork mixup.
The paper posted a copy of a September 6 FAA letter to the production company listed as co-owner of Jolie’s 2006 Cirrus SR22 indicating the registration expired in June 2013 and providing instructions (and required forms) to update the registration certificate. The FAA said the re-registration application was received (and dated before the June 30 expiration), but one of the signatures “appeared to be a copy” and had to be signed in ink. Further complicating the issue, the FAA website lists the Cirrus as having a current valid registration through December 2016 (December 2006 is when the original registration was issued). What gives?
The problem appears to be related to the October 2010 change in FAA registration procedures, requiring owners of then-currently registered aircraft to “re-register” them, with the new registration lasting three years. There are separate forms for “re-registering” and for “registering” an airplane. If the three-year period has lapsed, the owner can no longer use the re-registration procedure and must to revert to FAA form AC 8050-1 — the “registration” application. So Jolie’s team was required to file a different form when its first application was sent back due to the signature.
Angelina Jolie and the team that looks after her FAA paperwork would not be the first to run afoul of this confusing procedure — but most other aircraft owners would be unlikely to see their story as fodder for the tabloids.
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