Ryanair has become the latest airline to be caught up in an international scandal after “fake” parts were found in two of its Boeing 737-800 aircraft during maintenance inspections in Texas and Brazil.
Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, claimed the parts came from the British supplier AOG Technics, which is not one of the airline’s approved suppliers – and that it has never directly engaged in business with the company, acquiring the components for two engines through intermediaries instead.
He told reporters: “[Ryanair] has never done business directly with AOG, receiving the component for two engines instead via third parties, and the carrier remains largely unaffected overall by the scandal.”
The components have since been removed from the aircraft.
Aviation watchdogs in the UK, US and Europe have accused AOG Technics of supplying engine parts with faked certification documents, raising concerns over safety, the Daily Mail reported last week. US carriers Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines have also found suspect parts in their planes.
Meanwhile, the UK Civil Aviation Authority has issued a safety notice to airlines and said it was “investigating the supply of a large number of suspect unapproved parts” that could, it said, be traced back to AOG Technics.
The EU Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) stated in August that a number of occurrence reports have been submitted indicating that “several CFM56 engine parts distributed by AOG Technics have been supplied with a falsified Authorised Release Certificate”.
The FAA also said in September that documents for engine parts were falsified. It issued an Unapproved Parts Notification (UPN) for the components supplied by AOG, stating: “If these bushings are installed or found in existing aircraft parts inventories, the FAA recommends that they be removed and quarantined to prevent installation until a determination can be made regarding their eligibility for installation.”
ARGS reached out to AOG Technics for comment.
