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Boeing and Airbus are flying with uncertified engine parts

An as-yet-unestimated quantity of CFM56 and CF6 engines are flying with parts not certified by aviation authorities, manufacturer CFM International confirmed on Wednesday, 20.

The company, a joint venture between GE, from the USA, and Safran, from France, supplies turbofans for Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 and A340 aircraft, among others. In addition to them, GE has also equipped hundreds of widebodies with the CF6 engine, such as the 767 and the A330.

According to CFM, the British company AOG Technics, which produces some engine components, falsified certificates to validate the operation of parts manufactured by it.

The turbofan manufacturer filed a lawsuit in the High Court of London, England, to force AOG to hand over documents on parts of the CFM56 and CF6 engines since 2015.

The plan is to try to map as soon as possible aircraft that are flying with engines equipped with unapproved parts. To date, the company has managed to find 86 falsified documents and the number of engines with them has reached 100 units.

Operators of these planes are already being alerted and the FAA, the US civil aviation agency, has issued an alert for owners of jets with engines from these models to inspect their aircraft or parts inventory.

Engine used by the main commercial aircraft...The first report of suspicions about the origin of the parts occurred in June when TAP Manutenção e Engenharia, from Portugal, warned CFM about possible fraud.

Companies such as Southwest Airlines, United Airlines and Virgin Australia have already admitted to having aircraft equipped with AOG parts, according to Bloomberg.

CFM56 engines are widely used in air transport, powering very popular aircraft such as the Boeing 737 Classic and NG, as well as the first generation A320 family and even the four-engine A340.

Even military aircraft such as the P-8A Poseidon (maritime patrol) and the KC-46 may have been affected by the scandal. There are also converted old aircraft, such as DC-8s.

Although the jets are being phased out of service, replaced by more modern aircraft, there are around 23,000 CFM56 engines in the world.

“Safety is our first priority and we are taking aggressive legal action against AOG Technics for selling unapproved aircraft engine parts with falsified airworthiness documentation. We remain united with the aviation community in working to keep unapproved parts out of the global supply chain,” CFM said in a press release.