CFM International Inc. said 68 jet engines were fitted with spare parts backed by fraud documentation from a little-known UK-based supplier, a sign that fake components may have been installed on certain older-model aircraft.
The finding was included in a suit filed by the joint venture of General Electric Co. and Safran SA in the UK against closely held AOG Technics Ltd. The suit seeks an injunction to force AOG to provide more information to aid the aircraft industry's search for suspect components.
a CFM spokesman said s ability to identify parts sold by this third party with falsified documentation.
Representatives for AOG declined to comment.
The development offers the first hint at how many older-generation Airbus SE A320 and Boeing Co. 737 aircraft may have been fitted with spare parts that London-based AOG allegedly sold with falsified airworthiness records. It's not clear whether additional engines may have used unauthorized replacement parts.
Aviation regulators in Europe determined that AOG provided parts for the repair of the CFM56 engines, the world's best-selling turbine, with falsified documentation, Bloomberg News reported last week.
The explosion of undocumented parts has caused shock waves in an industry where every component must be verified to ensure aircraft safety. With such confidence, it is impossible to know how durable uncertified parts will be under stress.
Regulators, airlines and other industry players have been scouring their records to find out what the suspect components were sold by AOG, the obscure supplier at the center of the crisis. AOG has no direct connections with CFM or its partners.
CFM and GE Aerospace have found 78 documents they claim to be falsified and which cover 52 CFM56 engine part numbers, along with two faked records for CF6 components.
No incidents linked to the suspect parts have been identified, the companies said in a statement.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has determined that the components backed by forged documentation included turbine blades, a crucial part of an aircraft's propulsion system.
- With assistance from Albertina Torsoli and Siddharth Vikram Philip.