Ryanair finds ‘fake parts’ in aircraft engines

Ryanair has uncovered what are believed to be fake parts in two of its planes.

The budget airline revealed it had found the suspected faulty parts in the engines of its aircraft when they were assessed.

Scheduled maintenance checks carried out on one plane in Texas, USA, and another in Brazil led to the discovery of the parts, believed to have come from London firm AOG Technics.

Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s chief executive, said the unauthorised parts have now been removed.

It comes after aviation regulators accused AOG in October of supplying thousands of engine parts with forged safety certificates to airlines around the world.

Ryanair has become the latest carrier embroiled in the scandal after American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines confirmed it had also found suspect parts.

Airbus 320s and Boeing models, including older-generation 737s in use at Ryanair, are said to be among those affected.

Mr O’Leary told Bloomberg that Ryanair has never directly dealt with AOG and that the parts were attained via third parties.

He said workers came across the components after Ryanair was urged to check its planes after AOG was hit with accusations about dodgy parts.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said in October that airlines in the UK had flown with the faulty parts sold to them by AOG.

Airlines were urged to check their parts by the CAA, which said at the time: ‘For each part obtained, please contact the approved organisation identified on the ARC [airworthiness release certificates] to verify the origin of the certificate.

‘If the approved organisation attests that the ARC did not originate from that organisation, then all affected parts should be quarantined to prevent installation.

‘If a part is found with falsified ARC which has already been installed it should be replaced with an approved part.’

AOG has been put before the High Court in London over the allegations and both its lawyers and company director Jose Zamora Yrala said the defendants are cooperating with investigations.

Last month, a Ryanair plane flew ‘within 20 metres of an undetectable UFO’.

And back in September, Ryanair was found to be the airline with the most hidden fees, ahead of Wizz Air, easyJet and Air Europa.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.