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FAA: Some Airbus & Boeing Jets May Contain Counterfeit Titanium With Falsified Certification
Simple Flying ^ | 6/14/2024 | Luke Bodell

Posted on 06/14/2024 8:25:53 AM PDT by T.B. Yoits

The problem has been traced back to a Chinese supplier.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating an issue involving the authenticity of titanium used in Airbus and Boeing jets after a supplier discovered holes in the metal due to corrosion. This has raised suspicions that a supply chain partner may have falsified documentation, much like the AOG Technics scandal uncovered last year.

As first reported by The New York Times, Airbus and Boeing partner Spirit AeroSystems has alleged that titanium used on recently-built aircraft at both planemakers may have been falsely verified, leading the FAA to launch an investigation.

Apparently, Italian parts supplier Titanium International Group found small holes in titanium in December 2023, and also raised suspicions about the authenticity of documentation. It notified Spirit AeroSystems of the issue, which in turn informed Airbus and Boeing in January 2024. According to three anonymous sources close to the matter, affected planes include those built between 2019 and 2023 and involve the Boeing 737 MAX, 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A220 programs.

The problem has been traced back to a Chinese supplier that sold titanium to Turkish company Turkish Aerospace Industries in 2019. Documentation from this Chinese supplier claimed that the titanium had been sourced from another Chinese firm, Baoji Titanium Industry - however, Baoji Titanium has confirmed that it did not provide this batch of titanium "and has no business dealing with this company."

Airbus and Boeing tests find no problems

Buccino added that aircraft equipped with unverified components will likely remove the parts no matter what happens to be on the safe side. The issue highlights the complexity of the global aviation supply chain and is strongly reminiscent of the AOG Technics scandal when the UK-based supplier falsely verified parts used on the CFM 56 engine.

(Excerpt) Read more at simpleflying.com ...


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: airbus; aviation; baojititanium; boeing; ccp; china; counterfeit; crookedcommies; titanium; turkey; turkishcrooks
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To: PeterPrinciple

What adds to the difficulty is getting certificates in Chinese with English cover letter. So you have to find your Chinese engineer on staff to read it and tell you the Chinese material certificate is a copy of a restaurant take-away menu or something.


21 posted on 06/14/2024 9:35:12 AM PDT by Cloverfarm (Pray for the peace of Jerusalem ...)
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To: T.B. Yoits

CHINA and TURKEY…. what could possibly go wrong?


22 posted on 06/14/2024 9:36:53 AM PDT by House Atreides (I’m now ULTRA-MAGA-PRO-M)
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To: House Atreides
CHINA and TURKEY…. what could possibly go wrong?

"CHIN LI!"

23 posted on 06/14/2024 9:39:16 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Gen.Blather
I get the illegal switching of parts in the secondary market but I've seen more scenarios where the large contractor goes out of their way to pawn off the responsibility on some shady third-world supplier.

They'd look you right in the eye and say, "We didn't make that, they did."

Our team, which was hammering them for quality control would simply tell them, "You accepted it and you imported it. I don't want to hear your excuses."


One other issue no one wants to talk about is that in subsidized industries such as aviation, the costs often outweigh what you could charge customers.

24 posted on 06/14/2024 10:35:44 AM PDT by T.B. Yoits
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To: T.B. Yoits

I was in engineering for thirty years. I did failure analysis for Air Force, Navy and Army materials. I know how complicated things can get. Sometimes, the cause of the problem is something the government insisted on to prevent failures. Things like overly complicated, expensive tests, processes, procedures, documentation, etc. Part of the problem that caused the door to blow off the Alaska Airlines Boeing was both companies involved went out of their way to avoid using the government-imposed rework process as it was not only complicated but caused significant delays. For example, the inspector you need to sign off will be there on Friday, a week away. The material sits in a jig that could be used six times over by that time. But it sits idle and backs up work causing weeks of delays and changes.
The whole aircraft parts process probably needs a significant overhaul from top to bottom with an eye for getting rid of decades of bad processes and unworkable procedures. But just try to get a government entity to change anything. They’re terrified that if they agree to something and bad things result, they’ll be blamed. The company I worked for had an employee in the FAA office in DC. He’d start getting something signed off on a Monday. By Thursday people who had already signed it were looking to see if it was signed off. If not, they’d remove their signature in case something involving that change caused an accident over the weekend and they had their name on something related that wasn’t approve all the way, to spread the blame. I hated working with the government on anything.


25 posted on 06/14/2024 11:18:01 AM PDT by Gen.Blather (Wait! I said that out loud? )
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To: T.B. Yoits

Im shocked..... shocked I tell you


26 posted on 06/14/2024 11:20:27 AM PDT by Still a Patriot
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To: T.B. Yoits

Joey not answering the phone.


27 posted on 06/14/2024 1:16:58 PM PDT by Vaduz
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To: rdcbn1

The good news is that China’s own airplanes probably also use those same unreliable suppliers.


28 posted on 06/14/2024 1:20:51 PM PDT by Truthsearcher
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To: broken_clock

Self-certification works. Ask any fluid college student.


29 posted on 06/14/2024 1:29:26 PM PDT by If You Want It Fixed - Fix It
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To: T.B. Yoits
"The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating an issue involving the authenticity of titanium used in Airbus and Boeing jets after a supplier discovered holes in the metal due to corrosion. "

Seems like I've been reading about counterfeit parts made in China for about 30 years now.
30 posted on 06/14/2024 3:07:19 PM PDT by clearcarbon (Fraudulent elections have consequences.)
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To: T.B. Yoits

The CEOs of these companies are retarded.

Boeing is going Bye-Bye.


31 posted on 06/14/2024 3:10:14 PM PDT by Fledermaus (We Are Now In A Civil War!)
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To: Fledermaus
Boeing is going Bye-Bye.

I think they're long past that point. They're a taxpayer-subsidized company in a taxpayer-subsidized industry. They're basically functioning like a utility company at this point and the government isn't going to let them go under because they need to keep it lurching along.

32 posted on 06/14/2024 3:36:32 PM PDT by T.B. Yoits
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To: T.B. Yoits

When I worked in Aerospace years ago, we routinely tested material for critical applications, rather than just taking the supplier’s word for it.


33 posted on 06/14/2024 8:11:43 PM PDT by Some Fat Guy in L.A. (Still bitterly clinging to rational thought despite its unfashionability)
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To: T.B. Yoits; 04-Bravo; 1FASTGLOCK45; 1stFreedom; 2ndDivisionVet; 2sheds; 60Gunner; 6AL-4V; ...

Aviation Ping!..................


34 posted on 06/17/2024 7:54:18 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: clearcarbon

I’ve seen TV shows from the 1990s about this very thing. One show had the counterfeit parts problem so bad that it even effected Air Force One.

60 Minutes had an anonymous drug dealer on of of their pieces. He said that he was getting out of the drug business and moving into the fake aircraft parts con as there was more money in it.


35 posted on 06/17/2024 9:34:11 AM PDT by Hillarys Gate Cult (“History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes” - Possibly Mark Twain.)
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To: Fledermaus

Ah but you’re forgetting “too big to fail” brought to us courtesy of the dems saving GM. Now large companies will all expect a gubmint bailout.


36 posted on 06/17/2024 9:39:46 AM PDT by Hillarys Gate Cult (“History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes” - Possibly Mark Twain.)
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To: T.B. Yoits

If there’s counterfeit titanium in the aviation parts supply chain, shouldn’t we be on the lookout for bogus Upsidaisium as well?


37 posted on 06/17/2024 9:57:30 AM PDT by Seaplaner (Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never...in nothing, great or small...Winston ChurchIill)
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To: T.B. Yoits

bad link site not secure


38 posted on 06/17/2024 11:04:34 AM PDT by KeyLargo
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To: Red Badger

Boeing outsources a lot of their aircraft parts mostly from China. China makes the 737 wings among other parts. GE and Rolls engines are used on Boeing planes. Basically Boeing just makes what’s called the barrels put together as the fuselage and shipped to the Boeing plant in Everett or Renton WA.


39 posted on 06/17/2024 11:14:53 AM PDT by SkyDancer ( ~ Am Yisrael Chai ~)
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To: SkyDancer

If you can’t trust the Chinese who can you trust?........................🙄


40 posted on 06/17/2024 11:17:08 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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