The race is on as several major North American airlines seek to locate aircraft engines that may have been compromised by potentially faulty parts.
According to the Wall Street Journal, many of America’s top airlines are attempting to locate “thousands of jet engine parts with fake safety certificates that were installed on their planes.”
According to the Journal, at least 126 engines have been discovered that were manufactured in part with these suspect parts. Those dubious items include everything from nuts and bolts to turbine blades.
These questionable engines have forced American Airlines, United Airlines, and Southwest Airlines to ground a number of planes.
Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines has stated that it has removed some engines from service and is replacing the essential components.
As the search for these potentially faulty engines continues, it’s worth noting that the problems can be linked back to AOG Technics, a little-known (though perhaps now infamous) U.K.-based company.
When these flaws first surfaced last month, that business, which the WSJ described as a “broker of airplane parts,” came under heavy scrutiny.
In September, reports surfaced that several airlines had discovered problematic parts in their engines as a result of AOG Technics apparently falsifying safety certifications.
The problem has been severe enough that, weeks later, it appears airlines are still looking for these potentially affected engines and have yet to locate them altogether.
While there do not appear to have been any accidents or incidents related to the false safety certifications, the fact that the United States aviation industry has been rocked once again by scandal is just the latest worry for Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Buttigieg, the former Democratic presidential candidate, has had a contentious stint as the United States Secretary of Transportation, and a series of issues have made him the object of much ire — and not just from the expected Republican detractors.
In July, a dreadful Fourth of July weekend overwhelmed and virtually crippled numerous airports and airlines, stranding several people on an already stressful travel day.
That weekend, Buttigieg was chastised by a slew of critics for his seeming lax attitude toward air travel.
Buttigieg’s overall stint in command of America’s numerous transportation networks has produced some dubious results.
According to several publications and studies, aviation travel in the country is as uncertain as it has ever been under Buttigieg’s watch.
To be clear, there is no evidence that Buttigieg was involved in the approval or execution of these AOG Technics pieces.
Both air travel and the global aerospace supply chain are volatile and complicated, and Buttigieg can only exercise so much control over them.
But, as the search for engines with problematic parts continues, this scandal is only the latest in a series of storms for Buttigieg.
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