Fake Jet-Engine Parts Case Prompts Call for Supply Chain Reforms

(Bloomberg) -- GE Aerospace, Airbus SE and other aviation heavyweights proposed a series of reforms to tighten up aerospace supply chains after the discovery of spare components allegedly backed by falsified records set off a frantic global search last year.

Aerospace companies should expand use of more secure digital records, strengthen supplier accreditation and improve the traceability of a component’s authenticity to keep unauthorized parts out of airline fleets, the Aviation Supply Chain Integrity Coalition said in a report on Wednesday. 

The group, which also includes Boeing Co., Safran SA, Delta Air Lines Inc. and United Airlines Holdings Inc., issued the recommendations following a nine-month examination of supply risks exposed by a little known UK distributor that is alleged to have sold thousands of spare jet-engine parts with falsified airworthiness records. 

Bloomberg News first reported in 2023 how maintenance shops, airlines and aerospace manufacturers hunted down the suspect parts linked to AOG Technics Ltd, which a UK government website shows as still active. Carriers from China to the US and Europe were forced to pull planes from service and extract the dubious components, leaving jets grounded and racking up millions of dollars in costs.

The coalition also recommended longer-term goals, such as building databases for vendors to verify their identities and to store records to trace a part’s history from when it was first manufactured, among other steps.

The recommendations from the coalition are voluntary. Coalition co-chairs Robert Sumwalt, a former chairman of the US National Transportation Safety Board and John Porcari, a former deputy secretary of the US Transportation Department, said that they are working with US and European regulators to implement the measures.

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