FAA Issues New UPN against GE Bushings Sold by AOG Technics with Falsified 8130-3 Tags

September 22, 2023 by Leave a comment

On August 4, we issued a blog post about AOG Technics and an EASA Unapproved Parts Notice. Since then, AOG Technics has gotten a lot of press and it has not been positive. GE has asked a London court to assist in obtaining information about the aircraft parts that AOG Technics sold.

The latest news on this front is from the FAA, which issued an Unapproved Parts Notice (UPN) yesterday concerning engine parts sold by AOG Technics. Specifically, it calls out CF6 Bushings. Here is the text of the UPN:

AFFECTED PRODUCTS
General Electric Company (GE) bushing part number 1856M94P01 sold by AOG Technics LTD to TAP Maintenance & Engineering.
PURPOSE
This notification advises all aircraft owners, operators, manufacturers, maintenance organizations, parts suppliers, and distributors of GE bushing part number 1856M94P01 sold by AOG Technics LTD without Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) production approval.
BACKGROUND
Information discovered during an FAA Suspected Unapproved Parts (SUP) investigation revealed on July 25, 2023, AOG Technics LTD, located in London, United Kingdom (UK) sold bushings for GE Model CF6 engines to TAP Maintenance & Engineering without GE’s approval. AOG Technics LTD is not an FAA production approval holder.

The bushings sold by AOG Technics LTD are identified as part number 1856M94P01 and the associated FAA Forms 8130-3 are falsified and may have these characteristics:

  • An FAA Form 8130-3 block 7 description reference of “Bushing.” The correct description reference for the listed part number is “BUSHING SHRD (IGV).”
  • The User/Installer Responsibilities section on FAA Form 8130-3 is missing. GE does not remove boilerplate language from the FAA Form 8130-3.
  • FAA forms 8130-3 that do not match GE’s formatting standards.
    o GE-issued FAA Forms 8130-3 do not have bold font in blocks 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,11, 13c, or 13e.
    o GE-issued Forms 8130-3 have grayed-out blocks 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d, and 14e for new articles.

RECOMMENDATIONS
FAA regulations require that type-certificated products conform to their FAA-approved type design and be in a condition for safe operation. The FAA encourages aircraft owners, operators, manufacturers, maintenance organizations, parts suppliers, and distributors to inspect their GE Model CF6 engines and/or aircraft parts inventories for the referenced bushing part number sold by AOG Technics LTD to TAP Maintenance & Engineering. 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.
FURTHER INFORMATION
You may obtain further information concerning this investigation from the FAA certificate management section identified below. In addition to the above recommendations, the FAA would appreciate any information concerning the discovery of the above referenced bushings from any source, the means used to identify the source, and the actions taken to inspect and/or remove the bushings from the GE Model CF6 engines and/or aircraft parts inventories.
This notification originated from the FAA Integrated Certificate Management Division, System Operation and Oversight Branch, Engine and Propulsion Section, 303 Corporate Center Drive Suite 312, Vandalia, OH 45377; telephone (937) 898-3991; fax (937) 898-8717.

FAA Unapproved Parts Notification No.: 2023- AAE-EHL-20230801-713 (Sept 21, 2023)

Filed under Uncategorized Tagged with , , , ,

EASA Issues Suspected Unapproved Parts Notice Concerning Aircraft Parts Distributed by AOG Technics

August 4, 2023 by 2 Comments

Today, EASA issued a Suspected Unapproved Parts Notice concerning CFM-56 parts that were distributed by AOG Technics, of Nova North, 11 Bressenden Place, London, SW1E 5BY, United Kingdom. As of today, this matter is listed by EASA as a matter that is under investigation.

It is important to recognize that EASA SUP Notices are based on EASA’s investigation, but are not the product of a formal adjudication. EASA is seeking additional information and their mechanisms for sharing information are included in the Notice.

For the convenience of our members, the entire EASA Notice is reproduced, below:

Suspected Unapproved Parts Details

Product: CFM56 Engine

Part name: Multiple

Part Number: Multiple

Serial Number: Multiple

This EASA Suspected Unapproved parts (SUP) notification is issued to alert owners, operators, maintenance organisations, and distributors of suspected unapproved parts distributed by AOG Technics, (Nova North, 11 Bressenden Place, London, SW1E 5BY, United Kingdom).

Occurrence reports have been submitted to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) indicating that several CFM56 engine parts distributed by AOG Technics have been supplied with a falsified Authorized Release Certificate (ARC). In each confirmed example, the approved organisation, identified on the ARC, has attested that the form did not originate from within their organisation, and the certificate has been falsified.

To date, AOG Technics has not provided information on the source of the parts, or of the falsified ARCs. EASA is therefore issuing this alert to determine whether other parts with falsified ARCs have been supplied, and to limit the airworthiness impact of any potentially unairworthy parts operating in service.

Recommended Actions

Aircraft owners, operators, maintenance organisations, and distributors are requested to inspect their records to determine whether aircraft or engine parts have been obtained from AOG Technics, either directly or indirectly. For each part obtained, please contact the approved organisation identified on the ARC (e.g. FAA  8130-3 or EASA Form 1) to verify the origin of the certificate.

If the approved organisation attests that the ARC did not originate from their organisation, then any affected parts should be quarantined to prevent installation until a determination can be made regarding their eligibility for installation. If a part with a falsified ARC is already installed, then it is recommended that the part be replaced with an approved part.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency encourages the reporting of any information concerning discovery of subject parts.  In addition to mandatory reporting required under local airworthiness regulations, it is requested to report to EASA directly, via the ECCAIRS reporting portal on ECCAIRS2 | Report an Occurrence (aviationreporting.eu).

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency might take further action as a result of the ongoing investigations and information received from competent authorities, aircraft owners, operators, maintenance organisations, and distributors.

EASA Reference OC-EASA-2023004901

Filed under Uncategorized Tagged with , , ,