Aircraft Probe Raises Fears

(CBS)  An Army investigation alleges a top supplier has sold sub-standard materials to virtually every aircraft manufacturer in the world. CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian has the exclusive report.

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Every day, several thousand military and commercial aircraft take off around the world, carrying precious cargo of soldiers and civilians.

Now, CBS News has learned one of the major suppliers of material used in many of those planes may be putting those passengers at risk.

In a CBS News, Army criminal investigators use stark language in making their case against California-based Airtech International, writing: "seldom have I come across a company with such brazen disregard for safety of soldiers and civilians as well as for the sanctity of laws …"

Airtech dominates the market for the raw materials used to build what are called "composites." Composites are the layers of high-tech plastics increasingly used to replace critical metal parts in the wings engines and the fuselage in many planes, including the C-17, F-18 fighter jets and 747s.

The memo alleges "kickbacks," "fraudulent acts" and the systematic selling of "non-conforming" products - basically products that don't meet required specifications and can leave behind contaminants that can weaken the finished parts.

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Read The Army Investigation Memo

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It reads, "Airtech has supplied some form of nonconforming product to every aircraft manufacturer in the world."

Nick Schwellenbach is an investigator with the Project on Government Oversight.

"It's a threat to the flying public, because Airtech is supplying bogus materials to companies," he said. "And it's possible these bogus materials could lead to composite parts falling apart."

Airtech declined an on-camera interview in regard to that alleged "brazen disregard" to safety and instead issued a statement.

In it, the company said, "We are aware of no current ongoing investigation," and that it had "fully cooperated" with the government.

Airtech said it considered "the matter closed," citing this November 2006 letter from the FAA, which did its own investigation and found no violation of federal regulations.

But according to a document dated earlier this month, an "active investigation" is still being conducted by the Army. While the House Transportation Committee wants to know why there's been so little action, with so much at stake.

[alphaa10-2009]

oldpilot1954 said, "... Therefore, people who have never worked in civil aviation are being given oversight of the industry. It has also been a while since I saw a maintenance violation that had to do with what the mechanic did -- instead it is almost always a paperwork issue."
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Some agency appointments emphasize managerial expertise rather than technical aspects of FAA administration, and competent managers should be appointed without regard to whether they are GOP or Democrat.

But not managerially incompetent ones, like the Michael Brown of Katrina fame, whose most famous comment (an emailed quip) is "Can I go home, now?" And whose chief qualification was having arranged some equestrian events and-- more significantly-- contributed to the election of George Bush.

Bush has stuffed federal agencies with some really stunted and awkward choices (matching his judicial appointments). Clearly, Bush regards the federal merit system as his personal fiefdom, and has only contempt for the public interest.

In scandal after scandal, the overriding theme has been the revolving door between government and industry, and the idea of professional merit gets little attention.

[denn034]

Perhaps, the fact that California is a liberal, anti-war state is involved here.

[oldpilot954]

"Perhaps this is a failure of a
"composite " approach to staffing-- ie. shove FAA professionals aside with a rabble of unwashed Bush political appointees who know nothing, care about nothing, and do nothing." by alphaa10

What is the difference between the "rabble of unwashed Bush political appointees" and the rabble of democratic appointed ones they replaced? Having been in this business for a couple of decades, who is President that year really doesn''t matter. If you are lucky the FAA administrator does his/her job as a figure-head and lets professionals work. If not we lose a bunch more experienced personnel who get fed up find jobs in other industries. Most local FAA representatives are good people but it has been a while since I met a new-hire that knew about anything except the military aircraft he/she just finished working on. You see veterans get priority in government hiring. Therefore, people who have never worked in civil aviation are being given oversight of the industry. It has also been a while since I saw a maintenance violation that had to do with what the mechanic did -- instead it is almost always a paperwork issue.

[komoncents]

And those who believe this a Democratic or Republican problem or that the Dems or Reps are better or less corrupt than the others need to wake up. Dem/Rep is simply the illusion that there is someone on our side. They are all bought and paid for by the same masters -

[oldpilot954]

I agree that greed finds a way. I am surprised that, if the allegations are true, the company has been in business this long. I''ve known of Airtech for several years and their reputation seemed pretty clean. As noted in the memo, their products are materials the are used for performing the composite lay-up and are thrown away after use. In most instances the substitutions would make the handling more difficult. However, it could also effect the finished weight and the ability of the cured part to be bonded to another. I still wonder why it takes 2 years to either bring charges or stop buying from them.

[komoncents]

Don''t count on any government bought and paid for agency to solve these kinds of problems as they are paid to look the other way. Until we find a way to stop the sale of our government to the highest bidder we will continue to occasionally uncover wrongdoing, somewhat like finding the tip of an iceberg. Outlawing campaign contributions of any kind might be a step in the right direction but of course our leaders aren''t about to bite the hand that feeds them. Mandantory death sentences for those convicted of wrongdoing or failing to act in the manner they are mandated with also has an appeal as a possible deterent. Alas human greed will always find a way.

[oldpilot954]

"What''''s scary is that there is really no non-destructive way to test composites." jw218389

Depending on the part, we can use audio, ultrasonic or x-ray inspections to find manufacturing flaws or deterioration. There are some new systems on the market that use a few other things but those are just coming out of the development stage. The traditional method was a simple "coin tap" where the technician listened for change of tone as the surface was tapped with a coin or small hammer. We have some electronic versions of that now but ultrasound is also popular. What these tests cannot tell us is whether the original materials were as strong as specified.

[alphaa10-2009]

CBS reports, "... Airtech said it considered "the matter closed," citing this November 2006 letter from the FAA, which did its own investigation and found no violation of federal regulations."
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Closed? Since when has the FAA been on top of any situation? This far-from-omniscient agency reminds many of Admiral Nelson, turning his blind eye to his telescope and reporting he saw nothing.

Clearly, FAA cannot do even damage control effectively. Perhaps this is a failure of a
"composite " approach to staffing-- ie. shove FAA professionals aside with a rabble of unwashed Bush political appointees who know nothing, care about nothing, and do nothing.

My question-- how much did AirTech contribute to the GOP?

My wish-- may AirTech executives fly often on the aircraft they helped jeopardize.

[demslie]

In truth its your own goverment allowing it. Wake up

Posted by WarDogLRS

In truth, its your own Democrats that Hate the Government, The Military and America. The story reads, "Army criminal investigators use stark language in making their case against California-based Airtech International". The problem is, the Army Investigators who did a good job investigating this case are blaming the contractor. The Democrats and CBS (Communist Broadcast System) are using this story as another political opportunity to Slam Bush or blame the Military. Its like whenever a terrorist kills a soldier, the Democrats get mad at Bush not the terrorist. Democrats don''t give a Damnn about aircraft safety or dead soldiers. They only care for political agenda.

[wardoglrs]

In truth its your own goverment allowing it. Wake up