by Francesca Landini and Tim Hepher
MILAN (Reuters) – An Italian firm at the heart of recent production concerns for Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner has produced more than 4,000 non-compliant parts for the US aircraft manufacturer over five years, shows a preliminary report drawn up by Italian prosecutors and that Reuters was able to consult on Tuesday.
The first results of the survey launched this year show that the Manufacturing Processes Specification (MPS) group, or its predecessor Processi Speciali which has since gone bankrupt, produced faulty titanium parts between 2016 and 2021. These parts were used in the fuselages of 35 787 aircraft, the report says.
Italian investigators, who note that MPS also supplied parts for the Boeing 767 freighter, are investigating whether the defective parts could threaten the aircraft’s flight safety.
According to Boeing, this quality defect does not affect flight safety.
Boeing declined a request for comment on the Italian prosecutor’s report, some of which was first reported by the Italian newspaper Il Corriere del Mezzogiorno.
A spokesperson for the aircraft manufacturer reiterated that there was no concern for the immediate safety of flights operated with the 787 Dreamliner.
In October, Boeing reported that titanium parts have been faulty manufactured by MPS for the past three years.
Leonardo, supplier of parts produced by MPS and who in the past also claimed to be a victim of manufacturing defects, declined a request for comment.
An attorney for the former MPS chief executive declined to comment on prosecutors’ report.
In the document, prosecutors accuse Processi Sepciali and then MPS of having produced 4,189 parts using “titanium and aluminum of different quality and origin” than those ordered by the customer, violating technical specifications.
Eight people, including the former managers of MPS and Processi Speciali, are being investigated for fraud and acts endangering air transport security.
Leonardo, who filed a lawsuit on December 7, is also considered a victim by prosecutors.
(Report Francesca Landini and Tim Hepher, with Mike Stone; French version Jean Terzian)
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