The Impact of Counterfeit Aircraft Parts in Aviation Logistics

This report delves into the critical issue of counterfeit aircraft parts within the aviation industry, highlighting the significant risks associated with their use. It explores the potential for fatal accidents, financial implications, and damage to airlines' reputations, as well as the psychological impact on the public. The report identifies the human factor and supply chain vulnerabilities as primary causes for the proliferation of counterfeit parts. It then examines the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Suspected Unapproved Parts (SUP) program, detailing its processes, including reporting mechanisms, investigations, and public notifications. The report also discusses the program's challenges and recommendations for improvement, such as enhanced training, management control systems, and collaboration with law enforcement. The conclusion emphasizes the need for a revised FAA oversight system, risk indicators, and increased emphasis on automated notifications to combat the rising trend of counterfeit components and ensure aviation safety.

Running head: THE IMPACT OF COUNTERFEIT AIRCRAFT PARTS IN AVIATION 1
THE RISK AND PREVENTION OF UNAPPROVED AVIATION PARTS
Name
Institutional Affiliation

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ABSTRACT
Unapproved aviation parts imply to those aircraft parts that have not been cleared by the civil
aviation authorities to be installed on an aircraft. In the United States, examples of approval
would be Parts Manufacturer Approval and Technical Standard Orders. A part becomes
‘unapproved’ or ‘counterfeit’ when they are manufactured without authority from an aviation
agency.
Suspected Unapproved Parts (SUP) are a real challenge that threatens public safety. The
general public depends on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the aviation
industry to provide safe and reliable air transportation and ensure that aircraft are properly
maintained and approved for flight. Therefore, there is need for both the government and the
aviation industries to combine their efforts in curbing counterfeit parts from being used in
aircraft. There have been several aviation accidents which always have high fatality rate, and
most of them are attributed to counterfeit or unapproved parts which end up being used on
these airplanes. This study aims to identify and evaluate the risks involved in using
counterfeit aviation parts and evaluate requirements of a program that can help identify,
report and remove suspected unapproved parts and components in the aviation maintenance
industry.

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RISK INVOLVED IN THE USE OF UNAPPROVED AVIATION PARTS
The costliest risk in the use of unauthorised aviation parts is the risk of fatal accidents.
Aviation accidents are usually rare but they are known to have a hundred percent fatality rate
if not slightly less. Most of these accidents are attributed to use and application of counterfeit
aviation components in aircrafts. According to Irish Times, there was a plane crash in the
year 1989 that claimed the lives of 55 people in the North Sea. The crash was attributed to the
use of unfit components as spare part for the plane.
Apparently, the tail fin fell off from the aircraft. Another plane, DC-10 crashed within
the same year in Chicago. The claim was that bolts securing the engine loosened, and it fell
off (The Irish Times, 2015). According to Irish Times, the US National Transportation Safety
Board found that the underlying factors of the numerous plane crashes and emergency
landings with all kinds of planes was unapproved parts. The estimated number of serious
flight mishaps or accidents between the years 1973 and 1993 by the FAA due to counterfeit
parts was 166.
Another risk posed by the use of illicit aviation commodities is the financial implication. A
lot of money that can be used to purchase better parts that are in good condition and with
better service and lifespan is lost to these counterfeit parts. This ends up becoming costly in
the long run because of the high cost of repairing and maintaining unapproved components.
They lack warranty documents as most of them are bought under the counter with little or no
certification or supporting documentation. Havocscope, a company that specializes in Global
Black Market Information, outlines the financial losses to counterfeit aircraft parts to be at 2
Billion dollars. According to Havocscope, the year 2011 alone recorded a total of 1,800
incidents of unapproved electronic parts which were sold to the US military. These
counterfeit parts were used on aircraft and helicopters as well as weapons systems. This
incurred a 5-15% decrease in US military weapons system reliability. According to

THE IMPACT OF COUNTERFEIT AIRCRAFT PARTS IN AVIATION 4
Havocscope, the US Navy love purchased close to 59,000 missiles chips to use on their
aircraft which were counterfeit (“Counterfeit Aircraft Parts – Data about Fake Parts in
Airplanes,” 2011). Havocscope later did an investigation as to how much it costs to buy a
fake pilot license and found out that with between $30,000 and $50,000, you could easily
secure one from the black market in the Philippines (“Counterfeit Aircraft Parts – Data about
Fake Parts in Airplanes,” 2011).
Counterfeit aviation components have adverse economic implications to affected airlines as it
may damage their reputation.
If an airline, for example, has a track record of getting into hitches brought about by
use of counterfeit components, then they may lose clients and even partners. This would
cause closure of airlines and loss of employment to thousands of people who are absorbed
into these airlines. There are also psychological implications to the common man that
consumes the services of the airlines (Griffin, Young, & Stanton, 2017). Frequent incidences
of accidents due to unapproved parts may cause widespread panic and fear of using airline
services of the affected airline.
This, therefore, calls for intensive investigation and evaluation into the best strategies
to employ to curb and prevent this rising trend of counterfeit products ending up in the
market.
PREVENTION MEASURES TO CURB THE USE OF UNAPPROVED AVIATION
PARTS
One must first know the cause or the underlying factors that bring about the entry of
counterfeit aviation parts into the market to effective preventive measures. One of the causes
of this problem is the human factor. People are sometimes ignorant and end up purchasing or
reselling bogus parts even after being warned. In 2015 the FAA issued an order to Huntington
Beach manufacturer Ameri-King Corporation to stop selling counterfeit aviation parts. The

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company however even after being given the order continued to box what looked like
aviation components into boxes. They would however not comment or provide their names
when confronted (Stock, Carrol, & Nious, 2017).
Counterfeit goods also end up emerging in legitimate supply chain systems. They are bundles
up together with genuine products and follow the normal supply chains. This is due to
existing loopholes in the entire supply chain map, as it entails suppliers, sub-suppliers and
other sub-tiers within the chain. It becomes difficult to track, and the bogus commodities end
up finding their way in the supply chain (Madhwal, & Panfilov, 2017). However, there is a
system in place through the FAA to try and curb this trend.
The FAA in the year 1995 was tasked with identifying unapproved parts and
removing them from the aviation system, under the Suspected Unapproved Parts program
(SUPs). The program embarked on an extensive campaign to reach the aviation community
through seminars. This is to increase the public awareness of SUP and by that reduce the
effects of counterfeit parts within the aviation industry. These FAA’s SUP efforts were later
strengthened the more following strong support from the government agencies such as Office
of the Inspector General, FBI, Defence Criminal Investigation Service and US Customs
(Scalone, 2019).
The goal of SUP program is to promote safety and improve transparency within the
aviation community. This is how the process works; there is a well-defined process through
which a suspected unapproved product is to be reported. There is a Hotline provided through
which you call and report any unsafe activity that might affect safety within the aviation
industry. In addition to that, a standardized form is provided that details out the information
required with regards to the SUP. This form can then be sent to the authorities for further
action to be taken. This prompts the FAA to conduct further investigations, and if sufficient

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evidence is found, then the product and company are flagged on the FAA website through
Unapproved Parts Notification post (GLOBALAIR, 2018).
An audit was conducted to determine the overall performance and effectiveness of the
FAA’s oversight of the SUP program. The system has its assorted set of challenges, and some
recommendations were made towards improving the system even better. Some of the
recommendations forwarded were; to provide training and guidance to hotline employees on
how to accurately record data relayed to them about SUP I the FAA’s database. It was also
proposed that a management control system be developed for the inspection offices to ensure
that SUP reports find their way to the hotlines for processing. It was also recommended that a
management control system was required to ensure inspectors adhere to guidance in place
when conducting their investigations (Audit Reports, 2017).
Substantial funds that can be used to purchase better parts that are in good condition
and with better service and lifespan is lost to these counterfeit parts. This ends up becoming
costly in the long run because of the high cost of repairing and maintaining unapproved
components. These counterfeit parts were used on aircraft and helicopters as well as weapons
systems. Counterfeit aviation components have adverse economic implications to affected
airlines as it may damage their reputation. Frequent incidences of accidents due to
unapproved parts may cause widespread panic and fear of using airline services of the
affected airline (Scalone, 2019). This, therefore, calls for intensive investigation and
evaluation into the best strategies to employ to curb and prevent this rising trend of
counterfeit products ending up in the market. The company however even after being given
the order continued to box what looked like aviation components into boxes. They would
however not comment or provide their names when confronted. This is due to existing
loopholes in the entire supply chain map, as it entails suppliers, sub-suppliers and other sub-

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tiers within the chain. It becomes difficult to track, and the bogus commodities end up finding
their way in the supply chain
The study also concluded that there was a need to revise FAA’s oversight system to
incorporate risk indicators for manufacturers found in possession of SUP’s. The FAA also
was urged to forward all SUP cases to Federal Law enforcement agencies and also coordinate
with the Office of the Inspector General. There is also need to ensure that inspectors issue
UPN’s whenever they notify the aviation industry about SUPs. More emphasis has to be put
in the SUPs Advisory Circular to encourage the aviation community to register for automated
notifications about counterfeit components.

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REFFERENCES
Audit Reports. (2017, May 30). Enhancements Are Needed to FAA’s Oversight of the
Suspected Unapproved Parts Program. Retrieved
fromhttps://www.oig.dot.gov/library-item/35715
Counterfeit Aircraft Parts – Data about Fake Parts in Airplanes. (2011). Retrieved September
16, 2019, from Havocscope.com website:
https://www.havocscope.com/tag/counterfeit-aircraft-parts/
GLOBALAIR. (2018, March 01). FAA Suspected Unapproved Partsa Program. Retrieved
from https://blog.globalair.com/post/2018/03/01/FAA-Suspected-Unapproved-Parts-
Program
Griffin, T. G., Young, M. S., & Stanton, N. A. (2017). Human factors models for aviation
accident analysis and prevention. CRC Press.
Madhwal, Y., & Panfilov, P. B. (2017). BLOCKCHAIN AND SUPPLY CHAIN
MANAGEMENT: AIRCRAFTS'PARTS'BUSINESS CASE. Annals of DAAAM &
Proceedings, 28.
Scalone, S. (2019, September 15). The History of SUPs (Suspected Unapproved Parts).
Retrieved from http://iflyamerica.org/historyofsup.asp
Stock, S., Carrol, J., & Nious, K. (2017, May 18). California Company continued to Sell
Bogus Aircraft Parts Despite FAA Cases-and-Desist Order. Retrieved from
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/California-Company-Continued-To-Sell-
Bogus-Aircraft-Parts-Despite-FAA-Cease-And-Desist-Order-422859854.html
The Irish Times. (2015, October 6). Bogus parts for aircraft implicated in many crashes.
Retrieved September 16, 2019, from The Irish Times website:
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/bogus-parts-for-aircraft-implicated-in-many-
crashes-1.1106164

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