The U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General’s (DOT IG) office is expected to release a draft audit report of the FAA civil aircraft registry this week to the aviation agency, according to DOT IG program director of aviation audits Marshall Jackson. Speaking yesterday at the NBAA Business Aircraft Finance, Registration, and Legal Conference, Jackson said the FAA will then have 30 days to review and comment on the report before the watchdog agency makes the document public next month.

Spawned by a series of Boston Globe stories about lack of aircraft owner transparency in the FAA registry, the audit seeks to assess the FAA’s modernization progress of the registry and policies for providing public access to records, he said. The DOT IG also coordinated this audit with the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which is also conducting its own review related to aircraft registration.

Jackson noted that the FAA reauthorization bill passed last year requires the agency to modernize its aircraft registry in three years. “It’s good that Congress pushed the FAA on this issue,” he said. “However, three years is a really aggressive timeline, and I’m not sure if the FAA will be able to meet that.”

The FAA issued a request for information in December to solicit interest and capabilities from interested vendors regarding its new digital aircraft registry, Jackson said.