Pratt & Whitney discloses fraudulent engine tests (Update)
Jet engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney said Monday it has uncovered fraudulent testing of engine parts involving falsified records in Israel, but that no recalls or other problems resulted.
The subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. said an investigation was begun in June 2011 when an employee anonymously alleged that test data had been altered over 15 years at Carmel Forge, another United Technologies unit, in Israel.
"Carmel Forge produced test records that were not accurate," Pratt & Whitney spokeswoman Stephanie Duvall said in an email. "That is a serious matter for an engine manufacturer, and we have treated it very seriously."
An internal investigation found that employees doctored metallurgical test results to make certain engine forgings appear to meet strict standards when in fact they did not, the company said.
The doctored data did not lead to any flight safety risks nor did Pratt & Whitney have to issue airworthiness directives or service bulletins for delivered components.
Pratt & Whitney, based in East Hartford, Connecticut, said Carmel Forge has made personnel changes, established stronger software controls, purchased test equipment and taken other steps to prevent adjustments to original test data.
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement it found no evidence of non-conforming parts at Carmel Forge and did not issue fines or other penalties.
The agency also said no special FAA assessments or reviews of the facility are underway. It said it agreed with Pratt & Whitney's corrective action plan and agrees with Pratt & Whitney's assessment that there are no data indicating any in-service issues.
No maintenance schedules were adjusted as a result of the investigation, and the parts are performing as expected, the FAA said.
The Wall Street Journal reported the findings in Monday's editions. In afternoon trading, shares of United Technologies fell $1.27, or 1.4 percent, to $88.86. They are still near the high end of their 52-week range of $70.71 set last June and $91.51 on Feb. 19.
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