49,357 currently-registered US aircraft are multi-engine fixed-wing airplanes — twins ranging from light piston trainers to pressurized cabin-class aircraft. The pre-purchase records check starts exactly where it does for a single: registration status, accident and incident history matched by serial number, and filed liens.
One extra question a twin raises that a single doesn't
When an accident or incident record involves engine trouble on a multi-engine aircraft, it matters which engine — and whether the aircraft was flown or landed on the remaining engine, which is itself a normal, trained-for procedure and not automatically a red flag. Read the NTSB narrative, not just the summary classification, to understand what actually happened rather than assuming the worst from a one-line description.
What the public record still won't tell you
Two engines mean two complete sets of time-since-overhaul, airworthiness directive compliance, and accessory (magneto, turbocharger, prop governor) histories to track — and they are not always at the same point in their service life, even though they came off the same airframe. That detail lives only in the logbooks. A twin with one engine near overhaul and one recently overhauled is a very different near-term expense picture than one where both are mid-life, and no federal record shows you which situation you're in.
Same discipline, twice the bookkeeping
- Registration and ownership history — identical process to a single.
- Accident history by serial number, with attention to which engine (if any) was involved.
- Filed liens and security agreements.
- Logbooks and time-since-overhaul for both engines and props, requested before you pay for an inspection.
Run the free records check first on every candidate. It won't tell you what either engine has left in it, but it will rule out the aircraft that shouldn't be on your list before you spend a dollar finding out.