Counterfeit parts in aircrafts call for full vigilance of market

Europe's aviation regulator recently exposed a huge scandal over a British company supplying fake or unsourced engine repair parts for Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft.

A statement issued by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency said that the London-based AOG Technics sold many aircraft parts with forged authorization certificates and the suppliers who were supposed to supply the parts did not issue relevant certificates.

At the center of this scandal are CFM56 engines, made by CFM International. These are the world's bestselling jet engines installed on thousands of narrow-body aircraft by airlines around the world. Aircraft engine components are checked every 8,000-20,000 sorties, thrust inverters every 8-10 years, and engine life-limited parts, which have mandatory replacement requirements, are replaced every 10,000-30,000 sorties. That all aircraft parts can be traced to source is the norm. It is thus inconceivable that unlicensed or counterfeit parts entered the supply chain of Airbus and Boeing.

EASA has now asked aircraft owners, operators, maintenance organizations and parts dealers to check their records for aircraft parts obtained directly or indirectly from AOG Technics and to replace those.

Given that the CFM56 engine is mainly used to repair older Boeing 737 and Airbus 320 passenger aircraft, the entry of fake parts into its maintenance system makes one wonder if it is to blame for recent flight accidents. They included the Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 that crashed in 2019, killing all 149 passengers and eight crew members, and the system failure of a SpiceJet plane in India before landing on May 1, in which at least 17 people on board were injured. It is not known if AOG Technics supplied parts for these aircraft, but it is important to probe when AOG Technics entered the Airbus and Boeing supply chains and how it forged airworthiness proof certificates.

As Airbus and Boeing account for 99 percent of the global market share of large civil aviation aircraft, the entry of fake parts into their supply chains has a bearing on global flight safety. This reminds us that the existing safety procedures though strict are still not enough.

One wonders how parts made by AOG Technics could find their way into Airbus and Boeing's supply chains bypassing strict scrutiny procedures. Has the pursuit of maximum profits led some to let down their guard? The scandal should be investigated until all the facts are uncovered.

BEIJING NEWS