Lockheed Martin F-16A
N861TA is a Lockheed Martin F-16A, a fixed-wing airplane with one motor with turbofan engines, built in 1978. It has 1 seat. It is registered to Top Aces CORP, a non-citizen corporation in Mesa, Arizona. The registration is valid: it was issued on February 17, 2026 and expires on February 28, 2033. It holds an experimental airworthiness certificate for crew training, dated January 30, 2025. 3 documents are on file: loan or lien (security agreement), bill of sale (evidence of ownership), loan release.
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Aircraft
- Maker
- Lockheed Martin
- Model
- F-16A · all F-16As and related versions
- Built of
- aluminiumThe airframe is aluminium: sheet metal over a riveted frame, the way most aircraft have been built since the 1940s. This is how the Lockheed Martin F-16 family is built; the FAA does not record construction for each aircraft, and the type certificate data sheet is the authority for this one.
- Serial number
- 78-0326
- Type
- Fixed-wing, single engineFAA type of aircraft code 4 (the FAA's broad category for the airframe). Every aircraft with this code · All codes
- Power
- TurbofanFAA type of engine code 5 (what powers it, as the FAA classes engines). Every aircraft with this code · All codes, 1 motor · P & W F100-PW200 · 23,770 lb thrust
- Seats
- 1
- Year built
- 1978
- Transponder code
- ABD438 (octal 52752070)
Registration
- Status
- Valid registrationFAA registration status code V (whether the registration certificate is in force). Every aircraft with this code · All codes
- Certificate issued
- February 17, 2026
- Expires
- February 28, 2033
- Last FAA action
- February 17, 2026
- Airworthiness
- ExperimentalFAA airworthiness class code 4 (the kind of airworthiness certificate it flies under and what it is approved for). Every aircraft with this code · All codes · Crew trainingFAA certificate purpose code 5 (the kind of airworthiness certificate it flies under and what it is approved for). All codes · January 30, 2025
- FAA region
- Western-PacificFAA region code 4 (the FAA regional office that handles the record). All codes
- FAA record id
- 01349715
Owner as the FAA publishes it
- Name
- Top Aces CORP
- Type
- Non-citizen corporationFAA type of owner code 8 (who holds the registration: a person, a company, a trust or a government body). Every aircraft with this code · All codes
- Address
- 7852 e Velocity Way
Mesa, AZ 85212-6637
Owners can ask the FAA to withhold their name and address from public files. When they do, those fields are blank here as well. How that works.
Documents on file 3
Earlier use of this number 1
Connections how N861TA links to the rest of the register
- Lockheed Martin F-16 18 registered
- Lockheed Martin 28 aircraft on the register
- Built of aluminium · as the model family is built; the register does not record it per aircraft
- Pratt & Whitney F100-PW200 13 aircraft with this engine series · 23,770 lb thrust
- Top Aces CORP 32 aircraft in the fleet
- Mesa, AZ 713 aircraft registered in this town
- Falcon Field · FFZ
- Arizona 8,410 aircraft registered
The whole map of how records connect · these connections as data: /graph/aircraft/N861TA.json.
Records check free · 4 to understand · 2 clear
The public federal record on N861TA, read the way a buyer, lender or insurer reads it: FAA registration, prior tail numbers keyed on the serial number, reuse of the tail number, recent registry filings, and the NTSB accident record under this and every earlier registration.
Valid registration to Top Aces CORP, a non-citizen corporation, certificate issued February 17, 2026, expires February 28, 2033. No fractional interest recorded. [1]
The airworthiness certificate on file is dated January 30, 2025, 47 years after the 1978 manufacture year. A re-issued certificate commonly follows export and re-import, a rebuild, or a return to the register after cancellation. The cause is documented in the FAA aircraft records file, which the full report obtains. [1]
No earlier tail number is recorded against serial 78-0326 for this model in the deregistered file. [2]
N861TA was previously assigned to 1 other aircraft: Douglas DC-6B (serial 43522, cancelled April 20, 1998). Histories keyed to the tail number alone can mix aircraft up; this check keys on the serial number. [2]
1 loan or lien document received by the registry recently (October 13, 2026), and 1 release. The full title and lien picture is in the FAA aircraft records file. [3]
2 NTSB records under N861TA: Accident on January 2, 1998 at Mcgrath, AK: no injuries, destroyed. Accident on April 1, 1996 at Beluga, AK: no injuries, substantial damage. Details below. [4]
These live in the FAA aircraft records file (every document ever filed against the aircraft) and, for larger aircraft, the International Registry. Part of the full report.
AD compliance against the logbooks and flight-activity reconciliation are researched layers of the full report.
NTSB records 2
Aircraft on the NTSB record: Douglas DC-6B · operated under 125
The ingestion of snow into the windshield anti-ice system, and the resulting obscured windshield which made runway alignment not possible. Factors associated with this accident were the cold windshield, the reduced performance of the windshield anti-ice because of the short taxi by the crew, and the insufficient information on the system provided by the manufacturer.
Full record in plain English · Docket and reports at the NTSB
Aircraft on the NTSB record: Douglas DC-6-B · operated under 091
The Pilot-in-Command's selection of an unsuitable terrain area for taxi/parking and his misjudgment of the clearance required.
Full record in plain English · Docket and reports at the NTSB
- FAA Releasable Aircraft Database, master file, file of October 23, 2026. registry.faa.gov/
- FAA deregistered aircraft file (part of the same download), file of October 23, 2026. registry.faa.gov/
- FAA document index: registry documents received in recent weeks, file of October 23, 2026. registry.faa.gov/
- NTSB aviation accident database (CAROL), records through September 30, 2026. data.ntsb.gov/carol-main-public/basic-search
This automated check reads the public federal record. Nothing here is a legal opinion, an appraisal or a statement about the aircraft's condition; a CLEAR line is a statement about the searched record, not the aircraft.
Source: FAA Civil Aviation Registry, Releasable Aircraft Database, October 23, 2026. See this record on the FAA site · This record as data