Global alert over faulty plane parts

The air crash in Queen's, New York, baffled experts

Civil aviation authorities in 167 countries are being warned about suspect aircraft parts as companies in Italy and the US are investigated for fraud.

The inquiry has raised suspicions that used equipment allegedly sold on by Italian companies with false documentation may have caused at least two air crashes in the past year, including one in New York in November which killed 265 people.

Suspicious air disasters

American Airlines Airbus crash in New York kills 265, November 2001

Minerva Airlines Dornier 328 overshoots runway in Genoa, killing four, February 1999

ATI ATR 42 crashes near Milan killing 37, October 1987

Valujet DC 9 crashes in southern Florida killing 110 people, May 1996

Under the scam, old and faulty aeroplane parts stripped by untrained workers have allegedly been sold as new.

The news made headlines after police raided three Rome-based aircraft parts companies late last week, but the operation appears to have been under way for many months and involves the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Police descended on Panaviation, New Tech and New Aerospace of Italy, making six arrests, including the head of Panaviation, Enzo Fregonese, and two officials from the Italian airline Meridiana.

They also seized thousands of plane parts in containers at Rome's Fiumicino airport and the sea port of Naples, where they were due to be shipped out to the United States.

Police said people found stripping an Airbus A300 plane belonging to Panaviation at the airport on Saturday were not qualified to do the job.

A spokesman said the three Italian companies had "obtained, reconditioned and sold a large quantity of aeronautical material" to airlines in Italy, the rest of Europe and North America.

Long history

According to Italian television, the Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC) first warned of the risk of faulty parts a year ago, and it issued an alert to its US counterpart last September.

It will shake the whole aviation world

Adalberto Pellegrino
Italian Civil Aviation Authority spokesman

Suspicions were aroused after a 1995 robbery in an aeroplane hangar in Olbia, and the Italian press has spoken of air crashes stretching back to 1987 which may have been caused by faulty spare parts.

When the American Airlines Airbus crashed into New York last November, the FBI began investigating the possibility of faulty spare parts, focusing on engine failure and rudder malfunction.

According to Britain's Guardian newspaper, up to 1,000 aircraft could be affected by the faulty spare parts.

In Italy, the ENAC says the results of the current investigation will have ramifications for the entire industry.

"It will shake the whole aviation world," said its spokesman, Adalberto Pellegrino.