American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth) has become the latest carrier to disclose it has also been caught up in a growing scandal involving fake engine parts supplied by a UK-based entity called AOG Technics. The carrier first confirmed to Bloomberg on September 21 that some of its aircraft were impacted.
"Through the work of internal audits as well as collaboration with our suppliers, we’ve identified the uncertified components on a small number of aircraft. Each were immediately taken out of service for replacement,” an airline spokesperson said. "We’ll continue working with our suppliers and coordinating closely with the FAA to ensure these parts are no longer in our supply or otherwise in use on our aircraft.”
TAP Air Portugal (TP, Lisbon) was the first operator to flag the problem in July when it uncovered parts installed on certain CFM International-manufactured engines were supported by fraudulent documentation. Since then, other airlines, including United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and Virgin Australia have temporarily pulled aircraft from their fleets to verify the integrity of engine parts. Last week, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an Unapproved Parts Notification alert concerning AOG-supplied spares installed on some CFM56 engines used to power some older-generation B737 and A320 type aircraft. The European Aviation Safety Agency and the UK Civil Aviation Authority have also issued warnings.
CFM is a joint venture between General Electric and French Aerospace supplier Safran SA. Last week, Safran CEO Olivier Andries said his company had never dealt with AOG Technics but noted that the aircraft parts industry is an open market. He remains unsure about the size of the problem but estimates around 100 may be affected. "We don't know who they sold those parts to and whether all airlines have done their checks," he said.
AOG Technics and its founder, Jose Alejandro Zamora Yrala, have now gone to ground, with the company's website and social media pages shut down and Yrala not responding to media inquiries. However, before scrutiny in the business recently stepped up, Yrala had told some outlets that he was cooperating fully with investigations.
