AIR ONE HELICOPTERS, INC., a California Corporation, Petitioner, v. FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, Respondent

DAVID R. THOMPSON, Circuit Judge:

Air One Helicopters, Inc. (Air One), the undisputed owner of a helicopter, has been ensnared in webs of bureaucratic regulation spun by two countries, Spain and the United States. The effect has been to preclude Air One from registering its helicopter with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) even though it is crystal clear Air One owns the aircraft, has discharged the hen which once attached to it, and the aircraft’s current registration in Spain is no longer vahd.

We grant review and end the bureaucratic gridlock. We reverse the FAA’s denial of Air One’s…