Southwest Airlines has exposed potentially fraudulent aircraft parts supplied by an obscure UK-based company, AOG Technics Ltd., sending shockwaves through the aviation industry.
Bloomberg reports that this discovery has prompted a meticulous review of components across the global fleet, with major carriers and engine manufacturers scrambling to identify counterfeit parts that have infiltrated some of the world's most widely flown passenger jets.
A Troubling Discovery
Southwest Airlines announced on Friday that it had removed two "suspect parts" linked to AOG Technics Ltd. from one of its Boeing Co. 737 aircraft, marking the first major carrier to acknowledge such an action publicly.
The stakes were further raised when CFM International Inc., a joint venture between General Electric Co. and Safran SA responsible for manufacturing engines for numerous older-generation Airbus SE A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft, reported the presence of parts with fraudulent documentation on 68 of its power plants.
This troubling discovery has shaken an industry where safety reigns supreme. Aviation manufacturing and maintenance standards demand rigorous verification of every component.
Now, regulators, airlines, and industry stakeholders are combing through their records, desperately seeking out the suspect components sourced from AOG Technics Ltd., the enigmatic supplier at the epicenter of this crisis.
Legal Battles and Investigations
CFM International, the world's largest jet engine manufacturer, has responded robustly to this situation by filing a lawsuit against AOG Technics Ltd. in the UK.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction to compel AOG to provide critical information to assist in the search for suspect components. It aims to recover any parts falsely claimed by AOG to be from CFM or GE.
In response to Bloomberg News inquiries, Southwest Airlines revealed that the two components they removed were low-pressure turbine blades supplied by AOG. The carrier took immediate preventive measures, guided by the fact that these components came from AOG.
Impact on Aircraft Models
These suspect parts were uncovered in an engine mounted on a Boeing 737 NG, an older version of Boeing's widely popular model.
Although newer models like the Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 Max have been upgraded with different powerplants unaffected by the AOG case, the CFM56 model remains the most widely used jet engine in service today.
Over 33,000 of these engines have been delivered to more than 600 operators worldwide, primarily for single-aisle planes, a staple of short-haul flights used by millions of passengers daily.
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Counterfeit Documentation
CFM and GE Aerospace have meticulously identified 78 falsified documents, covering 52 CFM56 engine part numbers, and uncovered two counterfeit records for CF6 components.
It is important to note that AOG Technics Ltd. has no direct affiliation with CFM or its partners.
Similar Instances
Pratt & Whitney, a well-known company that provides engines for passenger airplanes, faced a significant issue with their Geared Turbofan (GTF) engines back in late July.
Experts found metal contamination in several of these engines used in many Airbus A320neo planes flown by different airlines.
As a result, Pratt & Whitney has initiated a massive recall and inspection process that affected more than 1,000 GTF engines.
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