Faa Aircraft Registry MCP Server

What faa-aircraft-registry-mcp-server does

The faa-aircraft-registry-mcp-server MCP server exposes FAA civil aircraft registry data to MCP clients. It can turn an N-number such as N12345 or 12345 into a pre-joined active registration record containing aircraft, engine, year, airworthiness, registration status, Mode S, and ownership fields when owner redaction is disabled.

It also distinguishes among active, deregistered, reserved, and unknown registration states. Search functions cover active registrations and the FAA aircraft reference table, making it possible to find manufacturer/model codes before requesting detailed aircraft specifications.

A resource at faa://registration/{nNumber} returns the same registration payload as the lookup tool. The resource uses application/json and has a one-hour cache.

How it works

The local deployment queries a SQLite database with an FTS5 index. The package does not include the FAA data, so the local index must be initialized before queries will work. Under HTTP transport, the index can refresh daily in line with the FAA's nightly data release.

The faa-aircraft-registry-mcp-server MCP server supports both STDIO and Streamable HTTP transports. A public Streamable HTTP instance is available at https://faa-aircraft-registry.caseyjhand.com/mcp, so a client can connect without installing the package locally.

Returned coded fields include both the FAA's raw value and a decoded label where available. Mode S values are returned in octal and hexadecimal; the hexadecimal value is the ICAO 24-bit address. Blank values from the FAA remain absent rather than being populated with inferred data.

Setup and configuration

For a hosted connection, configure an MCP client with the public URL and Streamable HTTP transport. For a local deployment, run the package with Bun or use npx, configure STDIO, and set FAA_MIRROR_PATH to the local FAA registry database path. The first run requires the project's mirror initialization command to build that database; the package does not download or bundle the registry automatically.

The example local configuration also sets MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=stdio and MCP_LOG_LEVEL=info. Owner fields are redacted by default. Setting FAA_REDACT_OWNER_PII=false enables owner name and address output and permits owner-name searches.

Tools and capabilities

• faa_lookup_registration accepts an optional leading N and returns a decoded active record. It reports not_found when no active record exists and invalid_n_number for malformed input.
• faa_get_registration_status checks active, deregistered, and reserved data in that order. It returns a recordType and does not include owner information.
• faa_search_registrations supports owner name, make/model, exact manufacturer/model code, state, aircraft type, and Mode S filters. Multiple filters are combined with AND. Results support limits from 1 to 200 and offset pagination.
• faa_search_aircraft_types searches reference records by manufacturer/model query, aircraft type, or category and returns codes usable by the other tools.
• faa_get_aircraft_type decodes a six- or seven-character manufacturer/model/series code into specifications such as manufacturer, model, engine, seats, weight class, cruise speed, and type-certificate data.

Limitations and notes

The faa-aircraft-registry-mcp-server MCP server is limited to the data available in the FAA release and does not provide a general aircraft tracking feed. Registration lookup returns active records; use the status tool when an N-number may be deregistered or reserved. Owner-name search is unavailable while owner PII redaction is enabled.

Searches require at least one filter, and results may be capped at 200 per request. Truncated responses report the number shown and a next offset. Invalid states, aircraft types, codes, and Mode S values produce validation errors rather than broad searches. A never-issued N-number returns unknown, not an error.