Partnair Flight 394 - Aftermath

Aftermath

As a result of the accident, safeguarding against forged aircraft parts increased. Peter Friedman, an expert on forged parts, stated in an episode of the television programme Mayday (Air Crash Investigation, Air Emergency) that the Partnair accident was the "seminal event" that caused people around the world to recognize the proliferation of forged aircraft parts in parts inventories. The spare aircraft parts industry had little regulation in many places in the world at the time of the Partnair accident. The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT), which oversees the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), examined the scope of the spare parts in the United States. The USDOT audited the FAA's inventory and found that 39% of the parts in the bins were forged. The fraudulent parts came from a parts broker that was prominent in the parts broker industry; 95% of the parts in that broker's inventory were forged. Mary Schiavo, the former inspector general of the USDOT, said that American parts brokers had "no regulation whatsoever." Schiavo said that an individual with a telephone and a fax machine could become a parts broker and could get his or her parts from a variety of sources, including junkyards, scrap facilities, older aircraft, aircraft involved in accidents and incidents, and illegal parts manufacturers. Forged parts were often less expensive than authentic parts. Friedman said that "bottom line-driven" airlines, including those on the verge of bankruptcy, wanted to cut costs, driving them to acquire false parts.

The FAA investigated false parts and captured illegal parts dealers in sting operations. The FAA found that there was an industry for making thousands of worn and inferior parts to look like newly-manufactured parts. At the time of the Partnair accident, aircraft parts were required to have documentation with signatures indicating that the parts were authentic. The FAA found that illegal business forged FAA tags to make the parts appear authentic. Schiavo said that many of the operators signed the tags with forged signatures of real inspectors. Friedman said that the tags had more monetary value than the actual illegal parts. The Americans initially believed that the proliferation of false parts mainly affected only smaller airlines; Schiavo said that smaller airlines and repair stations were usually the businesses that were the most likely to accept false parts. The FAA later found forged parts in larger operations; in particular Air Force One, the aircraft used by the President of the United States, had fraudulent parts. As a result illegal parts dealers faced arrests and convictions. Schiavo said that the most important action taken by the United States government regarding the proliferation of forged parts was to cause the convictions of the parts dealers. The FAA created a more rigorous documenting system to prevent the proliferation of fake aircraft parts. Airlines would receive criminal charges if they knowingly accept defective aircraft parts. In the 2000s Schiavo said that forged parts are not proliferated as often because there is more regulation in that time period than in the 1980s and the 1990s.