An aircraft sale can involve a buyer, brokers, a maintenance professional, an escrow company, and a delivery crew. Lance Ricotta describes a process that moves from inspecting the aircraft to negotiating terms, reviewing the transaction, and documenting delivery.
This is an explanation of the process Ricotta says he uses as an owner or broker. It is not an independent audit of any transaction, a statement of every escrow company’s procedures, or legal advice.
1. Inspecting the aircraft
Ricotta says a prospective buyer or the buyer’s broker typically arranges for a maintenance professional to inspect the aircraft. The inspection helps the buyer assess its condition, records, and suitability. The maintenance professional reports findings to the party that engaged them, including work that may need to be addressed before acceptance.
An inspection report can document the aircraft’s condition at a particular time. It does not, by itself, establish a purchaser’s identity, business activities, or intended future use. Those are separate questions from whether an aircraft meets the buyer’s technical requirements.
2. Agreeing to terms
Once the parties decide to proceed, Ricotta describes a letter of intent and a purchase and sale agreement. The agreement sets out the transaction’s terms, including the arrangements for acceptance and delivery. He says either the buyer or seller may identify the escrow company.
The dated agreement, named parties, and related correspondence provide a starting point for reconstructing the transaction. They should be read with the closing documents rather than used to infer what happened in a later resale.
3. Reviewing the buyer and funds through escrow
Ricotta says the escrow company collects know-your-client information and performs checks on the buyer or the corporation or trust in whose name the aircraft will be registered. For export sales, he says escrow also reviews incoming proceeds and their source.
The scope of a particular review must be established from that escrow company’s records. An account of a normal process cannot prove that a particular review occurred, that every underlying owner was identified, or that every future use was known. Ricotta says he did not personally know the people behind many corporate or trust purchasers, even when escrow reviewed the purchasing entity.
4. Recording acceptance and delivery
According to Ricotta, the parties agree whether the seller will deliver the aircraft or the buyer will send a crew to collect it. Delivery receipts and acceptance documents record the handover. Together with bills of sale and escrow statements, these can establish dates and parties at the close of a sale.
Why ownership timelines matter
A later registration change, resale, or incident adds another event to an aircraft’s history. To assess a seller’s involvement, readers need to distinguish the original sale from later events and examine what the relevant people knew at the time. A complete timeline should identify its sources and mark any gaps.
Ricotta argues that he did not control how buyers or later owners used aircraft after completed sales. That is his position, not a legal conclusion established by this article. His response to OCCRP addresses the reporting that prompted this discussion. Aircraft-specific claims require aircraft-specific records.
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