How Dodgy Spare Parts Got Into Jet Engines, Leaving Airlines Scrambling

[Airband]

How Dodgy Spare Parts Got Into Jet Engines, Leaving Airlines Scrambling

Delta, Southwest and other airlines are checking fleets after regulators, engine makers claim that a small broker sold spare parts with forged safety documents

Wed Oct 04, 2023 - WSJ
By Sharon Terlep and Benjamin Katz

Quote

“Somebody found a loophole. The system is supposed to guard against that.”

The biggest U.S. airlines are searching for thousands of jet-engine parts with fake safety certificates that were installed on their planes, an unusual incident that highlights the complexity and risks in the aerospace global supply chain. 

The spare parts, from simple nuts and bolts to more critical turbine blades, went into dozens of jet engines made by a General Electric joint venture during maintenance work. The engines were then installed back onto popular Boeing and Airbus airplanes, according to GE and safety officials.

The questionable parts have been found on about 100 aircraft so far at a growing number of airlines. American Airlines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines have pulled aircraft from service. Delta Air Lines on Monday said it removed a small number of engines from service and is changing out parts to address the issue.  

At the center of the scandal is a little-known broker of airplane parts, called AOG Technics. A lawsuit filed by General Electric and its engine partner Safran claims the small company used large-scale falsification of documentation to sell engine parts to airlines. 

Alexander Weinberg, a lawyer for AOG Technics, declined to comment on the continuing legal matter. A London judge has ordered AOG Technics to share documents detailing its parts sales, giving the firm until Oct. 4 to comply. 

AOG Technics serves as a components middleman, acquiring basic parts and selling them to maintenance and repair organizations. The U.K.-based firm was established in 2015 and currently lists an address that is a co-working space near Buckingham Palace, public records show. 

A U.S. database of approvals for parts such as those sold by AOG Technics shows no record of the company having received approvals.

“It’s a bit strange that a phantom company can be allowed to supply spare parts with false certification documents,” Olivier Andriès, the chief executive of Safran, told reporters last month. 

Dubious documents

The Federal Aviation Administration and its European counterpart have accused AOG Technics of using forged documents. Airline parts come with certificates that are used to track each part’s safety record, origin and airworthiness. The regulators say their investigations are continuing.

The most affected engine model—the CFM56—holds the record for most aircraft engines ever sold, with over 33,900 of the turbines delivered to customers since its entry into service in 1982, according to the engine’s makers. It currently powers Boeing’s predecessors to the 737 MAX and the original Airbus A320, both used as workhorses for the aviation industry. 

GE and Safran, in the lawsuit, said they became aware of the problem in June after being contacted by the maintenance and engineering operation of TAP Air Portugal. 

The dubious documentation “puts aircraft safety in jeopardy and renders it impossible for operators who have purchased these parts to verify the airworthiness of their engines,” according to the lawsuit filed by GE, Safran and their joint venture, CFM International. “All falsified parts need urgently to be identified and the relevant operators notified.”

Because jet engines involve fast-moving parts that operate under pressure and at high temperatures, any weak components pose a safety risk, the companies say in the lawsuit. 

An industry executive said that, while a handful of airlines have disclosed finding AOG parts, many are concerned about whether they have suspect parts on their engines, and are trying to figure out if their engines are exposed. 

GE and Safran have said they are taking action to prioritize safety. GE told investors that it doesn’t expect a material financial impact from the episode. Airbus said it was aware of media reports on the matter, and Boeing declined to comment.

A virtual office

According to court documents, AOG Technics’ founder, Jose Zamora Yrala, is its lone director and shareholder. Efforts to reach him weren’t successful, and messages sent to AOG Technics weren’t returned.

The safety documents aren’t the only aspect of the business that has come under scrutiny. Bloomberg News earlier reported on the problems with AOG Technics safety documents and with the LinkedIn profiles of apparent AOG Technics employees. 

The engine makers’ lawsuit alleges that LinkedIn profiles purporting to be AOG Technics staff featured stock photographs. “There are, therefore, legitimate questions as to whether the profiles have been manufactured and whether the profiled employees actually exist,” according to the suit.

At a new office block in central London, listed as AOG Technics’ headquarters, reception and security staff said they were unfamiliar with the company. A representative for co-working specialist Argyll, which leases space in the building, confirmed that AOG was a virtual client and doesn’t hold a permanent presence at the location.

Maintenance strains

The incident has rippled through an industry that carefully monitors the veracity of every component installed on an aircraft. It also poses questions about the efficacy of the predominantly paper-based system used to track parts and the ease of fabrication.

“If you put a part in an airplane engine, you should feel confident that it’s legitimate,” said Ron Epstein, an aerospace analyst at Bank of America. “Somebody found a loophole. The system is supposed to guard against that.”

The FAA investigates up to a half-dozen reports of suspected unapproved parts a year, according to the agency’s website, which lists the cases. Such cases are eventually referred to the U.S. Department of Justice.  

The disruption is adding pressure to an already stretched maintenance and repair supply chain. Overhaul firms, battling with staffing and spare-part shortages, are struggling to supply sufficient capacity to keep pace with the recovery in air travel after the pandemic. 

It also follows a wider fallout from a fault on Pratt & Whitney’s newest engine, the geared turbofan, which requires hundreds of those turbines to be pulled off aircraft over the next few years.

Replacing the AOG Technics parts, which involves taking the engine off the airplane wing, typically would take anywhere from a couple of weeks to two months for each engine, but could drag on longer given the industrywide backlog, said Epstein. 

United said it had discovered AOG parts in engines on two aircraft. The airline replaced the engines and returned the planes to service, a spokesman said. He said the company continues to investigate and expects no effect on customers. Delta said affected engines involved less than 1% of its total.

Southwest said it had one engine containing two low-pressure turbine blades sold by AOG Technics and replaced those blades. American said it identified uncertified components on a small number of aircraft and took them out of service for replacement. 

Virgin Australia, which found two suspect parts last month—a turbine blade and a seal on two separate aircraft—said it follows a stringent approach to maintenance to ensure safety standards. 

Edited October 4, 2023 by Airband

[Malcolm]

AOG Technics: UK fraud body makes arrest in aircraft parts probe

6th December 2023, 10:43 GMT-7

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By Katy Austin & Lora JonesBBC Business

Getty Images

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has launched a criminal investigation into suspected fraud at a UK-based aircraft parts supplier.

Investigators from the SFO carried out a raid early on Wednesday, making one arrest.

Earlier this year, UK, US and European regulators issued alerts to firms to check parts from AOG Technics.

They were asked to trace the provenance of parts directly and indirectly supplied by the firm.

AOG has supplied parts for the world's best-selling passenger aircraft engine since 2015 to a number of major airlines globally.

Ryanair, as well as US carriers such as American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta, are some of the operators investigating engine parts that may have come from AOG Technics, according to reports by Bloomberg.

None of the above airlines immediately responded to a BBC request for comment.

Jet2, EasyJet, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic told the BBC that AOG was not one of their suppliers.

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic do not operate aircraft powered by the CFM56 engines in question.

While it had previously been reported that Tui had been affected, the airline said on Wednesday that it is not an AOG customer.

It confirmed that it had previously been sent one single plane as a "lease-in", where one engine was affected - but regular maintenance checks put the part in doubt, which was then replaced.

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The UK aviation watchdog, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), issued a safety notice in August, which prompted some companies to take a small number of planes out of service temporarily as a precaution.

It is understood that any affected airlines in the UK have since had the parts replaced and have resumed flying.

AOG Technics mostly sold to overseas companies that install airline parts but some UK airlines were also affected, the SFO said.

The fraud watchdog's director Nick Ephgrave said the investigation dealt with "very serious allegations of fraud", with "potentially far-reaching consequences".

The body is working with the CAA and other regulators in a bid to "establish the facts as quickly as possible", it said.

A spokesperson for the CAA said that it had been working closely with watchdogs in the US and Europe to prevent any safety issues from coming up.

Independent aviation expert John Strickland said that he could not recall "a similar situation in my career".

"It is a cause for concern for manufacturers and airlines alike," he added.

But Mary Schiavo, former inspector general of the US Department of Transport, previously told the BBC's World Business Report that passengers should feel reassured if they were flying with a major, reputable airline from a country with a big aviation industry, like the US or UK.

She described airlines as the "first line of defence" and pointed out that laws require them to isolate, put a red tag on and lock up in a secure vault any potentially "bogus parts".

The BBC could not immediately reach AOG Technics for a comment.

AOG Technics: UK fraud body makes arrest in aircraft parts probe (bbc.com)

Fraud Investigators Raid Home, Make Arrest in Aircraft-Parts Probe (msn.com)