Check FTP status using AppleScript
This works as a shell test, if you replace  with your target.

echo "QUIT" | telnet &lt;host&gt; ftp 2&gt;&amp;1 | grep  "Escape character is" &gt; /dev/null


We're using hardly any complex tools, we just send a command to the server that makes it close our connection. If this works, the ftp-server is up and running. If we couldn't connect at all, this line returns 1, else it returns 0.

Digested to an AppleScript it's something like

set hostn to &lt;host&gt;
try
    do shell script "echo \"QUIT\" | telnet " &amp; hostn &amp; " ftp 2&gt;&amp;1 | grep  \"Escape character is\" &gt; /dev/null"
    display dialog "Online."
on error
    display dialog "Not online."
end try