§ Mr. LazarowiczTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (I) what information he has(a)received and (b)sought from his Italian counterpart concerning the possible use in civil aircraft of (i) old and (ii) faulty spare parts falsely certified as being new; [46269]
(2) what steps he has taken to ensure that checks have been carried out on aircraft operated by UK airlines as to whether they may have been fitted with (a)old and (b)faulty spare parts falsely certified as being new. [46270]
§ Mr. JamiesonAll UK registered commercial aircraft are subject to regular airworthiness inspections by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which also carries out systematic audits and ad hoc inspections of UK operators and aircraft Maintenance Organisations. The CAA is not complacent but is confident that the checks it carries out concerning the procurement of spare parts ensure that UK aviation standards are maintained at the highest level.
93WWhen the CAA became aware of recent media reports concerning the alleged supply of unapproved or counterfeit parts originating from Italy it immediately contacted the Italian aviation regulatory authority, the Ente Nazionale per l'Aviazione Civile (ENAC) for further information. The CAA was informed that a suspect Italian company was undergoing criminal investigation for distributing aircraft parts that were considered unairworthy. ENAC recommended that all aircraft owners, operators, maintenance organisations, manufacturers and distributors review their records and parts supplied by this company. The CAA accordingly wrote to all UK owners and operators of commercial aircraft on 7 February requiring the inspection of aircraft, aircraft parts and inventories of parts in accordance with the ENAC recommendations, and any suspect parts quarantined and notified to the Authority. To date no such notification has been received.