"EASA warns of more engine parts fraud after heist"

 

I had "blogged" several times about fake parts in the MRO supply system in the commercial aviation world, to put a part on a plane and have the repair recognized as "Legal" by the FAA and the EASA and other aviation regulatory bodies that control the commercial fleet of their respective countries, but they have reciprotive agreements across borders, like for example an "8130" is recognized around the world and is accepted.  EASA has their own versions and it also carries the same weight.  So if a part has that serviceable tag on it, it is considered "good to go" and meets the strict standards of the aviation world and is "airworthy" and safe to use and put on a plane that will carry passengers.  The parts are engineered to last literally years under normal use unless the manufacture has a scheduled maintenance check on the part where it is removed and sent to a shop to be tested and most of the time routed to inventory for the next plane or sometimes it has to be repaired.  The standards are strict for a reason and the parts are expensive. and the airlines accept it as the cost of doing business.  Now you get some unscrupulous dirtbag that get bad parts make fake tags, cleans the parts up so they look like new and sells them as "repaired" or "overhauled", the profit margins are huge, almost like drug cartel huge.  Hence the attraction.  Now a lot of the bad parts are sold to 3rd world airlines where oversite is far less stringent and "under the table remuneration is a way of life".

  I pulled this from "Aviationweek"

Airlines and MRO providers should be on the lookout for non-airworthy engine parts after 12 containers were fraudulently redirected from their intended destination, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has warned.

Spain’s National Aviation Authority informed EASA that a consignment of formally

declared non-airworthy turbofan parts was rerouted in late January 2026 from its destination.

The shipment consisted of 12 containers of engine parts, three of which contained critical or life-limited parts. These parts had not been rendered unairworthy by the contracted mutilation provider.

The theft covered more than 600 parts across four engine families: the CFM International CFM56, the IAE V2500, the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G, and the Rolls-Royce RB211.

EASA warned that the scale and method of the theft indicated the parts may be offered for sale on the open market.

It encouraged owners, operators and maintenance organizations to inspect their aircraft and inventories for the referenced part numbers and corresponding serial numbers; if any are found they should be removed and quarantined.

The notice appeared roughly a month after former techno DJ Jose Zamora-Yrala was jailed for four years by a British court for trading 60,000 parts with falsified documentation through his company, AOG Technics.

Airlines were forced to ground aircraft with AOG parts installed. While no in-service incidents were linked to the suspect parts, the disruption cost operators an estimated $53 million, the UK Serious Fraud office said.

The recent theft shows several similarities to that case, with low-value parts like bearings and seals targeted as well as an extensive array of serial numbers from the world’s most popular engines: the CFM56-5B and -7B.

Given tight supply and elevated pricing for legitimate parts, incentives exist for criminal activity in the aftermarket, although the industry will hope to avoid a repeat of the disruption and negative publicity generated by the AOG Technics case.

That case led to the creation of Aviation Supply Chain Integrity Coalition, an industry body that has recommended more investment in digital records, and wider adoption of electronic authorized release certificates (eARCs).