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2023-10-08 Science & Technology

Major US airlines find unapproved jet engine parts in some aircraft as alleged supplier faces lawsuit

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Posted by Skidmark 2023-10-08 06:51|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [14 views ] Top

#1 Is Another New Covid-19/23 related
Supply vs. Demand issue?

How many other items in our economy and various supply chains have been, cloned, tweaked or "improved"?

Posted by NN2N1 2023-10-08 08:03|| 2023-10-08 08:03|| Front Page Top

#2 There's bad parts loose in the supply chain for the USAF/USN ACES II ejection seat. There is at least one dead pilot and possibly more.

Mike

Posted by MikeKozlowski 2023-10-08 10:26|| 2023-10-08 10:26|| Front Page Top

#3 My question is, where did the parts come from? I mean, physically. They had to originate from a plant or shop somewhere. Are they intentional counterfeits, are they failed parts that got 'pencil whipped' into compliance, or something else?
Because if there's a supply source out there that's intentionally producing bogus very specialized parts, and evidently knows how to place them into the accepted product stream, business is in a world of hurt.

Posted by ed in texas 2023-10-08 10:35|| 2023-10-08 10:35|| Front Page Top

#4 ^ Good points. They have to be close enough to pass general inspection by mechanics. The materials may be cheaper but not necessarily detectable by a trained eye

Posted by Frank G 2023-10-08 10:38|| 2023-10-08 10:38|| Front Page Top

#5 If you farm out manufacturing to China, they will copy your design and sell knock off parts to your customers. It is very like doing business with Amazon.

Posted by Super Hose 2023-10-08 14:37|| 2023-10-08 14:37|| Front Page Top

#6 This is a far more common issue than most realize. I worked in the Aviation industry for decades. The FBI and FAA have teams to go after them. Rolls had an issue with fake turbine blade that devastated the helicopter industry for a while. Its not just China, American industries are at it as well, just not on the scale as China. I'm curious as to where the engine parts came from and what company sold them to Pratt.

Posted by 49 Pan 2023-10-08 15:16|| 2023-10-08 15:16|| Front Page Top

#7 OK, so it looks like, trying to read it, this was a self reporting issue. Meaning AOG noticed an issue and called the FAA, like they should. We like to jump straight to fraud, but it could be as simple as the historical paperwork for the seals and turbine are lost of incorrectly filled out. Firms that sell to airlines go through pretty significant check. We will see.

Posted by 49 Pan 2023-10-08 15:20|| 2023-10-08 15:20|| Front Page Top

#8 OK, it's in CRM-56 engines. Workhorse, everyday 737 types (not MAX, that's a bigger engine).
Which means traceability can break down (easily happens) and somebody later notices that batch numbers don't match.
It's not cutting edge stuff, nobody farms out cutting edge. That's how you give away trade secrets.
But the paper shufflers are supposed to keep up with this stuff. Maybe they were working remote for Wuflu, and nobody really looked at the actual documents.
That's the thing about manufacturing. It doesn't matter how computerized and robotic the process gets. Somebody, a real person somewhere, has to pick up the part and check stuff.
Or all you're selling is paperwork.

Posted by ed in texas 2023-10-08 15:38|| 2023-10-08 15:38|| Front Page Top

#9 ^ If true, still doesn't explain the virtual office, fake employees/staff pics/profile, etc.?

Posted by Frank G 2023-10-08 15:51|| 2023-10-08 15:51|| Front Page Top

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