Some recently manufactured Boeing and Airbus planes feature titanium components that were sold using fake documents verifying the authenticity of the material, according to a supplier to the plane makers, raising concerns about the structural integrity of these airliners.
The falsified documents are being investigated by Spirit AeroSystems, which supplies fuselages for Boeing and wings for Airbus, as well as the Federal Aviation Administration. The investigation comes after a parts supplier discovered small holes in the material due to corrosion.
In a statement, the FAA said it was investigating the extent of the problem and trying to determine the short- and long-term safety implications of planes made with these parts. It’s unclear how many planes have parts made from this questionable material.
“Boeing reported a voluntary disclosure to the FAA regarding the purchase of material through a distributor who may have falsified or provided incorrect records,” the statement said. “Boeing has issued a bulletin explaining how suppliers should remain alert to the potential for falsification of records.”
The revelation comes at a time of intense scrutiny as Boeing and the aviation industry as a whole are reeling from a series of incidents and safety concerns. In January, a door panel exploded on a Boeing 737 Max 9 while it was in flight, sparking several federal investigations. In April, Boeing notified the FAA of a separate episode involving potentially falsified inspection records related to the wings of 787 Dreamliner aircraft. Boeing reported to the FAA that it may have skipped required inspections of the plane’s wings and would have to re-inspect some of the Dreamliners still in production.
On May 30, Boeing submitted a plan to the FAA outlining the safety improvements it planned to make and committed to holding weekly meetings with the agency. Dave Calhoun, Boeing’s chief executive, is scheduled to testify Tuesday before a Senate committee on the company’s safety issues.
The use of potentially counterfeit titanium, which has not been previously reported, threatens to spread the industry’s problems beyond Boeing and to Airbus, its European rival. The planes that included components made with the material were built between 2019 and 2023, including some Boeing 737 Max and 787 Dreamliner jetliners as well as Airbus A220 planes, according to three people familiar with the matter who spoke under the guise of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. It is not clear how many of these planes are in service or which airlines own them.
Spirit is trying to determine where the titanium comes from, whether it meets appropriate standards despite its false documentation, and whether parts made from the material are strong enough to hold up over the jets’ expected lifespan, officials said. company managers. Spirit said it is trying to determine the most efficient way to remove and replace the affected parts if it becomes necessary.
“These are documents that have been falsified, counterfeited and counterfeited,” said Joe Buccino, a Spirit spokesman. “Once we realized that counterfeit titanium had entered the supply chain, we immediately confiscated all suspect parts to determine the extent of the issues. »
The titanium in question has been used in various aircraft parts, according to Spirit officials. For the 787 Dreamliner, this includes the passenger entry door, cargo doors and a component that connects the engines to the aircraft airframe. For the 737 Max and A220, affected parts include a heat shield that protects a component connecting a plane’s engine to the chassis from extreme heat.
Both Boeing and Airbus said their tests of the affected materials had so far shown no signs of problems.
Boeing said it purchased most of the titanium used in the production of its planes directly, so most of its supply was unaffected.
“This industry-wide issue affects some titanium shipments received by a limited number of suppliers, and testing to date has indicated that the correct titanium alloy was used,” Boeing said in a statement. communicated. “To ensure compliance, we remove all affected parts from aircraft before delivery. Our analysis shows that the in-service fleet can continue to fly safely.
Airbus also claimed that “the airworthiness of the A220 remains intact”.
“Many tests have been carried out on parts from the same source of supply,” an Airbus spokeswoman said in a statement, adding: “The safety and quality of our aircraft are our most important priorities. , and we work closely with our supplier partners.”
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency said in a statement that it had opened an investigation into the materials after learning of traceability issues from its Italian counterparts. An agency spokesperson said the investigation was ongoing and had not yet found evidence of an immediate safety issue.
“However, the agency will further investigate the root cause of the document traceability issue and continues to closely monitor any new developments that could lead to a potentially unsafe state of the fleet,” the statement said.
Spirit has suffered from quality problems and financial woes in recent years, and came under renewed scrutiny this year after the January episode involving the door panel of the 737 Max, for which it makes the fuselage.
The problem illustrates the complex global supply chain used in the production of modern airliners, and the story of what appears to have gone wrong involves companies in China, Italy, Turkey and the United States.
The problem appears to date back to 2019, when a Turkish materials supplier, Turkish Aerospace Industries, purchased a batch of titanium from a supplier in China, according to people familiar with the matter. The Turkish company then sold this titanium to several companies manufacturing airplane parts, and those parts were funneled to Spirit, which used them in Boeing and Airbus planes.
In December 2023, an Italian company that purchased titanium from Turkish Aerospace Industries noticed that the material was different from what the company usually received. The company Titanium International Group also found that the certificates supplied with the titanium appeared inauthentic.
Turkish Aerospace Industries did not respond to a request for comment.
Spirit began investigating the matter, and the company informed Boeing and Airbus in January that it could not verify the source of the titanium used to make some parts. Titanium International Group told Spirit that when it purchased the equipment in 2019, it had no idea the documents had been falsified, according to Spirit officials.
Francesca Conti, chief executive of Titanium International Group, said the episode was under investigation and she could not provide further details. “We are cooperating with the relevant authorities to resolve any issues that may be identified,” she said in an email.
The documents in question are called certificates of conformity. They serve as a sort of birth certificate for titanium, detailing its quality, how it was made and where it comes from, Spirit officials said.
People familiar with the matter said it appeared that an employee of the Chinese company that sold the titanium had falsified details of the certificates, writing that the material came from another Chinese company, Baoji Titanium Industry, a company that supplies often verified titanium. Baoji Titanium later confirmed that it had not supplied the titanium. The origin of titanium remains unclear.
“Baoji Titanium is neither familiar with the company nor has any dealings with it,” the company said in a statement to the New York Times.
Without knowing where the material came from or how it was handled, it’s impossible to verify the airworthiness of parts, said Gregg Brown, senior vice president of global quality at Spirit.
“Our quality management process relies on the traceability of raw materials from factories,” said Brown. “There was a loss of traceability in this process and a documentation problem. »
Spirit officials said they began testing titanium parts to ensure aircraft-grade materials were used. The company is currently testing components still in stock and those on undelivered fuselages.
So far, Spirit’s testing has confirmed that titanium is the appropriate grade for aircraft manufacturers. But the company was unable to confirm that the titanium was processed using the manufacturing process approved for aircraft. The material passed some of the material tests performed but failed others.
Mr. Buccino, a Spirit spokesman, said the company was working with its customers to identify the affected planes. Planes already in service will be monitored by airlines and removed from service earlier than usual if warranted, he said. It’s more likely, he said, that the affected parts will be removed during routine maintenance checks, whether or not the titanium is checked.
Olivia Wang contributed reporting from Hong Kong. Kitty Bennett contributed to the research.
