April 1, 2008
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a Miami maintenance firm it says shipped out substandard landing gear parts used on hundreds of Boeing’s wide-body jets, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
The Journal said the FAA’s notice details more than 300 instances when an AAR unit shipped “unapproved” parts for use on Boeing aircraft in recent years.
The FAA also said the landing gear parts didn’t comply with maintenance manuals and one of its mandatory safety directives from 2001, the newspaper reported.
No accidents have been caused by the affected parts, but US Airways — an AAR customer — said it voluntarily removed several parts after one of its Boeing 757s suffered partial landing gear failure in October, according to the Journal.
The parts had enamel paint applied to certain structural components contrary to manuals and FAA rules, the newspaper said. A source familiar with the matter told the paper this practice makes it harder for mechanics to spot metal corrosion that could weaken a landing gear.
The FAA is urging all AAR customers that have a landing gear with affected parts to inspect their landing gears for safety problems, the Journal added.
(Reuters)