Market Analysis

Boeing 787 Safety Concerns: How Substandard Parts Slipped Through the Cracks in Italy

Amos Simanungkalit · 13 Mar44K Views

Image Credit: Reuters

In May 2020, Italian police apprehended two men for dumping chemical waste into sewers in Brindisi, a port city near a small plane parts factory. This routine pollution case eventually led to a major investigation revealing how thousands of defective titanium and aluminum parts manufactured in Italy found their way into nearly 500 Boeing 787 jets still in service.

The ongoing probe, which will be discussed in a preliminary hearing on Thursday, focuses on Manufacturing Process Specification (MPS), an aerospace component maker, which allegedly defrauded clients by using cheaper, weaker metals to manufacture floor fittings and other parts for aircraft. MPS executives deny these charges.

Boeing has maintained that there is no immediate safety risk, and U.S. regulators are working on guidance to help airlines detect and replace faulty parts without issuing emergency orders. However, the investigation into MPS raises questions about the failure of the aerospace industry's voluntary audit systems to catch substandard components.

Initially, detectives were probing MPS' owners due to their previous company’s bankruptcy. However, after the pollution discovery, they expanded their investigation into MPS's material purchases, uncovering that the company had used cheaper and less durable metals instead of the prescribed alloys, with the help of whistleblowers. For four years, faulty parts made with the wrong metals were introduced into the aerospace supply chain through the Italian company Leonardo, which produces fuselage sections for the Boeing 787.

The case comes at a time when Boeing is still recovering from a previous safety and quality crisis that caused significant management and financial upheavals. While the industry continues to face sporadic issues with rogue parts, audits failed to spot MPS's low-quality materials. MPS passed audits from three different certification bodies between 2017 and 2021, yet none involved physical checks of the crucial floor fittings, which are structural components of the jet.

The faulty components were linked to 539 floor fittings made with substandard metals, some of which were installed in as many as 477 jets still in service. The FAA has not grounded any of these jets but issued a draft notice requiring airlines to inspect the planes for faulty parts, potentially covering up to 500 jets. However, until these inspections are completed, the exact number of affected planes remains unclear.

In response, Leonardo stated that it considers itself a victim in the case and noted that MPS had passed certification to work as a supplier. Boeing, likewise, has not commented specifically on the case but pointed to its comprehensive quality management system that includes supplier audits. MPS and its predecessor company had previously supplied parts to Leonardo for the Boeing 787, but investigators claim that over 6,000 parts were produced with the wrong metals, the majority of which were not structural.

MPS’s failure to meet material specifications could lead to severe consequences, such as the collapse of a jet’s floor in an emergency landing. Prosecutors have charged MPS executives with fraud and safety violations, while two employees face charges related to pollution.

Despite audits conducted under ISO standards and U.S. NADCAP certifications, the case highlights serious concerns about the lack of physical checks. Experts argue that the industry’s reliance on voluntary audits without random inspections of critical components failed to detect substandard parts.

Leonardo, which discovered the issues in 2020, said that any fraudulent behavior would not have been detected by these audits. In response, the company has since started performing additional tests on significant components. Some experts, however, suggest the need for a stronger regulatory framework to enforce tougher oversight of aerospace parts and certification processes.

Christopher Paris, founder of Oxebridge Quality Resources, argues that the MPS case illustrates the need for more stringent regulations governing the entire audit process, from private auditors to accreditation bodies. However, the Italian investigation does not target any of the certification bodies involved.

The case is raising broader questions about the integrity of the aerospace industry's oversight systems, with calls for updates to existing standards to prevent such lapses in the future.