Consolidated designed the Catalina as a Navy patrol flying boat, and it became one of the most widely used seaplanes of the Second World War, Wikipedia says. 3,308 were built, 620 of them in Canada, where it was called the Canso.
Its certificates set it apart. 58 percent of the 24 on the US register hold a Standard airworthiness certificate, a share no bomber on this site comes close to.
Register as of October 15, 2026. Survivor list as of September 6, 2026.
A warplane with a civil certificate
14 of the 24 registered Catalinas hold a Standard airworthiness certificate. That's 58 percent, close to the DC-3 and C-47 at 73 percent, while no bomber on this site gets above 12 percent.
10 of the registrations use Consolidated's Model 28 designation rather than a Navy PBY number. The rest are filed as PBY-5As or PBY-6As.
Where the airworthy Catalinas are
The list marks 6 airworthy in the United States and 4 in Canada, and it finds Catalinas of every status in 17 countries. Of the 80 it names, 36 are on display and 28 are under restoration or in storage.
Two ways to count Catalinas
The FAA register and the survivor list answer different questions, and each has blind spots.
| Count | Catalinas | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| FAA active registrations | 24 | United States only. Includes aircraft under restoration, in storage or on display. |
| Survivor list, listed airworthy | 16 | Volunteer-edited, not an official record. The list covers 17 countries. |
| Survivor list, US airworthy | 6 | The US share of the list's airworthy aircraft. |
| Survivor list, all statuses | 80 | 16 airworthy, 36 on display, 28 under restoration or in storage. |
Where the airworthy Catalinas are
Listed as airworthy by country, volunteer list revision of September 6, 2026
Who holds them
3 of the 24 registered Catalinas belong to an individual. 8 are registered to limited liability companies and 12 to corporations, and 1 is co-owned.
Who the Catalinas are registered to
Active US registrations by registrant type, October 15, 2026
Where they're registered
Registered addresses span 16 states. Oregon has 3, Florida 3 and California 2. The register records the owner's registered address, which isn't necessarily where the aircraft is kept.
Catalinas by state of registered address
Top states, active US registrations, October 15, 2026
What powers them
16 of the 19 registered Catalinas with an engine on record list a Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp.
Engines on record for registered Catalinas
19 of 24 registrations have an engine on record
The airworthiness date records the date on each aircraft's current airworthiness record. 18 of the 24 registrations have one, and 6 have none recorded.
Decade of the airworthiness date on record
18 of 24 registrations have a date
Where they go when they leave
65 Catalinas have left the US register with an export country on record, more than twice as many as are registered today. Canada took the most, 17.
Destination of exported Catalinas
Aircraft that left the FAA register with an export country on record
Most records of aircraft leaving the register carry no country, so this is a floor, not a total.
Which airworthiness category they hold
2 are Experimental, a category the FAA issues for purposes that include exhibition and air racing under 14 CFR 21.191. 14 are Standard. 5 have no category recorded in the register extract.
The accident record: 7 events
The NTSB database holds 7 Catalina accident records from 1983 to 2025. Of those, 3 were fatal, with 10 deaths in all. 3 of today's 24 registrations appear on an accident record, all of them after the aircraft was substantially damaged or destroyed. That's a count, not a rate, because the database has no flight hours.
More from the same maker: Consolidated Aircraft warbirds on the US register.
The Warbirds in America hub breaks down all 36 types by purpose of flight, phase of flight and pilot experience.
Built for the Navy, kept by civilians
The US built 2,661 Catalinas and Canada 620. Today the US register holds 24, 14 of them on Standard certificates, and 65 more have been exported.
The survivor list counts 80 Catalinas and Cansos in 17 countries, and 16 of them are marked airworthy.
Questions people ask
How many Catalinas are still flying?
No official body publishes a count of airworthy Catalinas. A volunteer-edited Wikipedia list (revision of September 6, 2026) shows 16 listed as airworthy worldwide, 6 of them in the United States. The FAA register shows 24 active US registrations, which includes aircraft under restoration, in storage or on display.
How many Catalinas were built?
Wikipedia counts 3,308 Catalinas built: 2,661 in the United States, 620 in Canada and 27 in the Soviet Union.
Can a private individual own a Catalina?
Yes. The register shows 3 registered to individuals, 8 to limited liability companies and 12 to corporations.
What engine does a Catalina use?
16 of the 19 registered Catalinas with an engine on record list a Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp.
Where do Catalinas go when they leave the US register?
65 Catalinas have left the US register with an export country on record, more than twice as many as are registered today. Canada took the most, 17.
How many Catalinas have been in accidents?
The NTSB database holds 7 Catalina accident records from 1983 to 2025. Of those, 3 were fatal, with 10 deaths in all. That's a count, not a rate, because the database has no flight hours.
What's the difference between a Catalina and a Canso?
Canso was the name for the Catalina in Canadian service, Wikipedia says, and 620 were built in Canada. The survivor list includes both, and this page counts them together.
Download the data
The counts on this page are available as a CSV: Catalina register summary. A table covering every warbird type is on the hub. To cite this page: PlanePassion, "How many PBY Catalinas are still flying?", based on FAA, NTSB and public records, November 4, 2026.