NEWLY HIRED PLT FOR CORPORATION GNDS SMT TWIN ACCOUNT NO RECORD OF ACFT MAINT HISTORY OR LOGBOOKS.

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I ACCEPTED A PLT POS WITH XYZ CPR; A COMPANY OPERATING AN SMT TWIN. AFTER ACCEPTING THE POS; I REQUESTED TO SEE ALL LOGBOOKS TO ASSESS THE FUTURE MAINT NEEDS FOR THE AIRPLANE. THE LOCATION OF THE LOGBOOKS WAS SAID TO BE IN THE AIRPLANE; BUT WERE NOT. THE LOGS WERE 'SOMEWHERE' BUT COULD NOT BE LOCATED; SAID THE OWNER. MY CONCERNS WERE THAT MAYBE THE MAINT WAS NOT BEING PERFORMED; SO I CALLED EACH ONE OF THE MAINT FACILITIES; EACH ONE TOLD ME THAT IN FACT THEY HAD NOT SIGNED OFF ON EITHER A PRIMARY OR INTERIM INSPECTION SINCE THEY HAD BEEN MAINTAINING THE AIRPLANE. I CANCELLED ALL TRIPS FROM THAT POINT (APR/XX/93) UNTIL THE OWNER COULD PROVE THAT MAINT WAS CURRENT. I HAD FLOWN THE AIRPLANE ON AN 'INTERVIEW FLT' ON MAR/XX-XY/93; AND A MAINT FLT ON APR/XX/93 ON THE OWNER'S COMPLETE ASSURANCE THAT THE AIRPLANE WAS COMPLETELY LEGAL. BOTH OF THESE FLTS WERE PRIOR TO ACCEPTING FULL TIME EMPLOYMENT. THE REVELATION THAT POSSIBLY THE LOGS WERE LOST; THE AIRPLANE IS OUT OF MAINT; AND I HAD FLOWN THE AIRPLANE WERE MADE ON APR/XY/93. I AM SORRY FOR BELIEVING WITHOUT VERIFYING AN OPERATOR! IS THERE ANY WAY TO HAVE AIRPLANE DOCUMENTATION HELD BY THE MAINT FACILITY OR FAA; SO THAT PLTS CAN CLRLY VERIFY THE MAINT STATUS OF AIRPLANES?