Foreign planes
By Maryjo Sylwester IRE and NICAR
When the EgyptAir flight 990 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on Oct. 31, reporters across the country were scrambling to find data about foreign airlines.
NICAR, which has a substantial collection of aviation data, only has records on planes registered in the United States. (NICAR does have some enforcement data on foreign planes) So where else can you turn the next time something like this happens? There are at least a couple of places for datasets. But be prepared to pay big bucks. Aviation Data Service, in Witchita, Kan., claims to have one of the most extensive databases of both U.S. and international planes. They collect the data from a network of sources, including civil registries, plane and engine manufacturers, insurance companies, dealers and others.
They sell three databases: one consisting of business jets and turbo jets; another of helicopters and one of commercial airlines. You can get just U.S. registered or international planes, or both. The information is updated monthly.
A query on their prices just after the EgyptAir crash came back with these estimates:
All three datasets, international planes only: $50,000 to purchase one time, or $3,000 per month on a subscription basis.
Just the commercial dataset, international planes only: $30,000 one time, or $2,000 per month on a subscription basis.
Aviation Data Service can be reached at (316) 262-1491.
Another source for international airplane data is Airclaims in London, England. The organization's database, called "CASE," has full histories of more than 60,000 aircraft including commercial jets, turboprops and business jets worldwide. Cost is $10,000 annually on a subscription basis.
More information is available on the company's Web site, www.airclaims.co.uk/index.htm or by calling their North American account manager Robert Grundy in Costa Mesa, Calif., (714) 437-3103.
There are a few Web sites that offer online databases of airplane registrations for foreign countries that might be worth checking-with caution, however.
Dutch registrations: www.scramble.nl/ciol phlnedreg_main.htm
Irish registrations: www.web-ie.com/irishav/
Landings, at www.landings.com, also includes links to several official and unofficial Web sites for registries of other countries, including Bermuda, Canada, Italy, Singapore, South Africa and Sweden.
MaryJo Sylwester can be reached by e-mail at maryjo@nicar.org