纽时：波音可疑钛金属 FAA查出中国供应商材料认证造假

纽约时报14日报导，联邦航空管理局(Federal Aviation Administration，FAA)正在调查为何波音公司(Boeing)与空中巴士(Airbus)制造过程中买到仿冒钛金属；有问题的钛金属来自一家知名度不高的中国供应商，厂商提供的材料认证数据是造假文档，波音与空中巴士都将买到的仿冒钛金属用来制造飞机，如今飞机结构安全引发疑虑。

除了FAA之外，为波音提供机身、为空中巴士提供机翼的势必锐航空系统公司(Spirit Aerosystems)也已针对中国供应商文档造假展开调查。报导指出，一家零件厂商发现中国供应商提供的钛金属出现腐蚀孔洞，主管机关于是循线调查。

FAA发表声明说，正在调查问题的严重性，并确认飞机的短期、长期安全影响为何；波音公司主动向FAA通报买到可疑钛金属的问题。究竟有多少飞机制造过程使用了可疑钛金属，目前无法确知。

纽约时报报导，三名知情人士透露，使用仿冒钛金属零件的飞机是在2019年至2023年之间生产，型号包括部分波音737 MAX系列、787梦幻客机(787 Dreamliner)以及空中巴士A220系列。这些飞机当中有多少已进入服役、哪些航空公司拥有这些飞机等细节，都有待进一步厘清。

势必锐航空系统公司发言人布西诺(Joe Buccino)表示，问题重点在于文档不实、变造以及伪造。他说：「我们一发现仿冒钛金属流入供应链，立即管控所有可疑零件，确认事态严重程度。」

势必锐主管表示，可疑钛金属用于787客机登机门、货舱门及连接引擎与机身的一项零件；737 MAX客机与空中巴士A220系列飞机受到影响的零件，则包括引擎与机身链接零件的防热护罩。

波音与空中巴士都表示，已对受到影响的材质完成测试，目前尚未发现问题。

势必锐主管说，钛金属出厂证明遭到伪造。知情人士说，销售可疑钛金属的中国厂商员工在证明文档里动手脚，声称钛金属来自通过材料认证的宝钛集团(Baoji Titanium Industry)。宝钛集团对纽约时报发表声明说，不知道遭其他厂商冒名，跟可疑厂商并无生意往来。

https://www.worldjournal.com/wj/story/121172/8032496?zh-cn

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2024-06-16 17:35:03

The problem illustrates the complex global supply chain used in producing modern jetliners, and the story of what appears to have gone wrong involves companies in China, Italy, Turkey and the United States.

The issue appears to date to 2019 when a Turkish material supplier, Turkish Aerospace Industries, purchased a batch of titanium from a supplier in China, according to the people familiar with the issue. The Turkish company then sold that titanium to several companies that make aircraft parts, and those parts made their way to Spirit, which used them in Boeing and Airbus planes.

In December 2023, an Italian company that bought the titanium from Turkish Aerospace Industries noticed that the material looked different from what the company typically received. The company, Titanium International Group, also found that the certificates that came with the titanium seemed inauthentic.

Turkish Aerospace Industries did not respond to a request for a comment.

Spirit began investigating the matter, and the company notified Boeing and Airbus in January that it could not verify the source of the titanium used to make certain parts. Titanium International Group told Spirit that when it bought the material in 2019, it had no clue that the paperwork had been forged, according to Spirit officials.

Francesca Conti, a general manager for Titanium International Group, said that the episode was under investigation and that she could not provide additional details. “We are cooperating with relevant authorities to address any issue eventually identified,” she said in an email.

The documents in question are known as certificates of conformity. They serve somewhat as a birth certificate for the titanium, detailing its quality, how it was made and where it came from, Spirit officials said.

People familiar with the situation said it appeared that an employee at the Chinese company that sold the titanium had forged the details on the certificates, writing that the material came from another Chinese company, Baoji Titanium Industry, a firm that often supplies verified titanium. Baoji Titanium later confirmed that it had not supplied the titanium. The origin of the titanium remains unclear.

“Baoji Titanium doesn’t know about the company and has no business dealing with this company,” the firm said in a statement to The New York Times.

Without knowing where the material came from or how it was handled, it is impossible to verify the airworthiness of the parts, said Gregg Brown, the senior vice president for global quality at Spirit.

“Our quality management process relies on the traceability of the raw materials all the way from the mills,” Mr. Brown said. “There has been a loss of traceability in that process and a documentation challenge.”