美国航空界丑闻愈演愈烈，多家巨头陷入困境
全球约有100架飞机卷入了这桩丑闻，如果不是如此耸人，这简直太夸张了。在这起丑闻中，一家拥有假冒员工和美化为邮政信箱地址的可疑公司销售和分销假冒飞机零部件，这些零部件最终被安装在世界上最大的几家航空公司的飞机上。上周四晚上，美国航空公司（American Airlines）成为第四家，也是迄今为止最后一家在飞机上发现来自AOG Technics零部件的航空公司。今年9月初，美国西南航空公司（Southwest）成为首家宣布发现AOG Technics提供的未经注册的零部件的航空公司，从而揭开了全球各航空公司披露这些零部件的序幕。
美国航空公司在发给《财富》杂志的一份电子邮件声明中称，“在少数飞机上发现了未经批准的零部件”，而西南航空公司则告诉《财富》杂志，它已发现一台发动机包含两个来自 AOG Technics 的零部件。
这一零部件丑闻是令航空业陷入困境的最新难题。由于全球公众开启“报复性旅行”（人们在经历了疫情时期的冬眠之后迫切希望出去走走），航空业已经连续两个夏天饱受航班不断延误和取消的困扰。美国航空公司和美国联合航空公司（United Airlines）都不得不在谈判新的飞行员工会合同的过程中小心翼翼，而且都取得了成功。在全球约25500架商用飞机的机队中，有问题的零部件虽然只影响了小部分飞机，却迅速造成了大量延误。随着AOG Technics的丑闻从美国一路蔓延到澳大利亚，世界各地的监管机构、航空公司和零部件供应商都争相追查可能存在的假冒零部件。
这家总部位于伦敦的神秘公司被指控伪造某些文件，并将可疑零部件运往世界各地的航空公司维修店。像AOG Technics这样的公司是中间商，向航空公司签约维修飞机的独立公司提供零部件。这些有问题的零部件被用于维修由CFM国际公司（CFM International）生产的喷气发动机[即用于维修空客（Airbus）和波音（Boeing）的旧型号发动机，CFM国际公司是通用电气（GE）和法国赛峰集团（Safran）的合资企业]。CFM国际公司目前正在伦敦高等法院起诉AOG Technics，要求获得能够说明其欺诈程度的文件，以便追踪所有假冒零部件。到目前为止，CFM国际公司认为AOG Technics可能已经售出了数千个带有伪造文件的零部件。
航空业咨询公司R.W. Mann and Company总裁罗伯特·曼恩说，“零部件会配备全生命周期的纸质文件。”在航空业，飞机上的每一个零部件都会被仔细追踪，以确保其来源和质量都有据可查。单个故障部件可能会造成灾难性的安全后果。
据路透社报道，发动机制造商CFM国际公司在6月意识到这些问题，当时一家葡萄牙维修店提醒CFM国际公司，称发现带有CFM名称的伪造文件。到8月，英国民航局[UK’s Civil Aviation Authority,相当于美国联邦航空管理局（Federal Aviation Administration）]发布了一份安全公告，宣布正在“调查”来自AOG Technics的“大量未经批准的可疑零部件的供应情况”。鼓励从AOG Technics购买任何零部件的航空公司和维修店核实零部件是否确实来自经销商声称的地方。
欧洲航空监管机构——欧洲航空安全局（EASA）几乎在同一时间发布了一份通知，证实某些文件是伪造的，会使人误以为AOG Technics的零部件来自合法制造商。欧洲航空安全局在声明中写道：“在每个造假案例中，[批准放行证书]上标明的批准机构都证明该表格并非来自其组织内部，而且证书是伪造的。”周四，美国联邦航空管理局（FAA）成为最新一家发布关于AOG Technics伪造零部件计划通知的监管机构。
飞机零部件灰色市场中的“深度造假”公司
曼恩说：“虽然飞机零部件的灰色和黑色市场一直都存在，但大多数都是由不讲信用的客户购买的，但这是一个‘深度造假’公司伪装成合法供应商欺骗了许多合法买家的案例。”
他告诉《财富》杂志，灰市产品通常是经过认证或被认为可以维修的零部件，但因其不符合其他要求而报废。相反，这些零部件“被廉价出售给需要廉价替代品的客户”。黑市交易的性质可能更加恶劣，通常涉及向受国际制裁的国家出售军事技术，例如向伊朗出售备用的F-14战斗机。
曼恩还将部分责任归咎于买家。他说：“同样令人不安的是，本应能够对供应商进行适当审查的成熟客户却上当受骗，这可能会危及客户、员工和飞机的安全。”
截至上周，欧洲航空安全局表示，“迄今为止，还没有关于未经批准的可疑零部件导致问题的报告。”
我们对 AOG Technics 及其创始人了解多少？
根据英国的公开文件，AOG Technics由何塞·亚历杭德罗·萨莫拉·伊拉拉于2015年创立。据彭博社报道，除了涉嫌伪造飞机零部件文件外，AOG Technics似乎还在领英（LinkedIn）上伪造了几个自称是公司高管的个人资料。该公司首席商务官邝雷和执行销售代表约翰尼·里科的个人资料中有照片和工作经历，但这些都无法得到他们所谓的前雇主的证实。
对伊拉拉名下其他文件的进一步调查显示，他在英国还创立了另外两家公司：房地产公司Kensho Group LTD和电子商务供应商Sunwave Solutions。伊拉拉在Sunwave的商业伙伴里卡多·马奎隆·切德劳伊告诉彭博社，该公司“在亚马逊上销售厨房电器，以在疫情期间消磨时间”。Kensho于2023年1月倒闭，而Sunwave似乎仍在运营——或者至少没有申请解散。
伊拉拉的文件提供了一些关于以不寻常方式运营企业的见解。其中几份文件错字连篇，包括高管头衔拼写错误，以及奇怪的大写单词，似乎是有人按下了大写锁定键而不是“大写首字母”键。其他文件显示了一系列公司地址的变更，其中一些地址要么追溯到了伦敦的一处联合办公空间，要么追溯到西萨塞克斯郡寂静小镇上一位现已退休的会计师的办公室。
2021年1月向英格兰和威尔士公司注册处提交的公司注册证书显示，Kensho的总部与AOG Technics在伦敦的地址相同——距离白金汉宫仅几个街区的North Nova大厦。据彭博社报道，在这座金碧辉煌的高档写字楼里，AOG Technics以每月100美元的价格从联合办公空间The Argyll Club租用了一个“虚拟”地址。2021年4月，Kensho申请将地址更改为西萨塞克斯郡海沃兹希思镇的一处住宅，该地址与Brian Cook Associates的地址相同（Brian Cook Associates是一家私人会计事务所，在原始公司注册证书中被列为代理）。伊拉拉的电子商务公司Sunwave Solutions就是在西萨塞克斯郡的同一个地址注册的。(布莱恩·库克没有回应置评请求。)
AOG Technics的网站和领英个人资料已无法激活，在谷歌上搜索该公司时，也被列为“永久关闭”。该公司没有回应置评请求。伊拉拉和AOG的律师告诉路透社，他们正在全力配合英国民航局的调查。
哪些航空公司发现了假冒零部件？
西南航空公司是首家披露在其飞机上发现来自AOG Technics未经批准的零部件的大型航空公司。该公司在8月份首次意识到这一问题，“并采取了必要措施，以确保我们的机队中没有任何来自AOG的零部件。”在西南航空的供应商对其零部件进行审查后，该公司从其中一架喷气式飞机上拆除了两个低压涡轮叶片。
几天后，维珍澳大利亚航空公司（Virgin Australia）也发现其飞机上使用了带有伪造文件的涡轮叶片。在大洋洲和北美洲的航空公司都发现了来自欧洲供应商的零部件，这表明，航空业面临的问题是全球性的，以及追查每一个可能涉嫌以虚假名义出售的零部件是多么困难。一周后，维珍澳大利亚航空公司发现了另一个不同的零部件，这次是涡轮喷嘴，被用在了另一架喷气式飞机上。两架飞机都被停飞，直到更换零部件。维珍澳大利亚航空公司的一位发言人表示，安全是公司的“重中之重”，公司采用了“高度严格的维护方法”来确保安全。
上周早些时候，美国联合航空公司成为第三家披露在其飞机上发现AOG Technics假冒零部件的航空公司。该公司表示，在两架美国联合航空公司喷气式飞机的发动机中发现了未经注册的零部件。这两架飞机正在进行必要的维护，更换零部件后才能重新使用。美国联合航空公司表示，将“根据供应商提供的新信息，继续进行调查”。美国航空公司表示，它将“继续与供应商和美国联邦航空管理局合作，确保供应商不再提供这些零部件或不在飞机上使用这些零部件。”（财富中文网）
译者：中慧言-王芳
全球约有100架飞机卷入了这桩丑闻，如果不是如此耸人，这简直太夸张了。在这起丑闻中，一家拥有假冒员工和美化为邮政信箱地址的可疑公司销售和分销假冒飞机零部件，这些零部件最终被安装在世界上最大的几家航空公司的飞机上。上周四晚上，美国航空公司（American Airlines）成为第四家，也是迄今为止最后一家在飞机上发现来自AOG Technics零部件的航空公司。今年9月初，美国西南航空公司（Southwest）成为首家宣布发现AOG Technics提供的未经注册的零部件的航空公司，从而揭开了全球各航空公司披露这些零部件的序幕。
美国航空公司在发给《财富》杂志的一份电子邮件声明中称，“在少数飞机上发现了未经批准的零部件”，而西南航空公司则告诉《财富》杂志，它已发现一台发动机包含两个来自 AOG Technics 的零部件。
这一零部件丑闻是令航空业陷入困境的最新难题。由于全球公众开启“报复性旅行”（人们在经历了疫情时期的冬眠之后迫切希望出去走走），航空业已经连续两个夏天饱受航班不断延误和取消的困扰。美国航空公司和美国联合航空公司（United Airlines）都不得不在谈判新的飞行员工会合同的过程中小心翼翼，而且都取得了成功。在全球约25500架商用飞机的机队中，有问题的零部件虽然只影响了小部分飞机，却迅速造成了大量延误。随着AOG Technics的丑闻从美国一路蔓延到澳大利亚，世界各地的监管机构、航空公司和零部件供应商都争相追查可能存在的假冒零部件。
这家总部位于伦敦的神秘公司被指控伪造某些文件，并将可疑零部件运往世界各地的航空公司维修店。像AOG Technics这样的公司是中间商，向航空公司签约维修飞机的独立公司提供零部件。这些有问题的零部件被用于维修由CFM国际公司（CFM International）生产的喷气发动机[即用于维修空客（Airbus）和波音（Boeing）的旧型号发动机，CFM国际公司是通用电气（GE）和法国赛峰集团（Safran）的合资企业]。CFM国际公司目前正在伦敦高等法院起诉AOG Technics，要求获得能够说明其欺诈程度的文件，以便追踪所有假冒零部件。到目前为止，CFM国际公司认为AOG Technics可能已经售出了数千个带有伪造文件的零部件。
航空业咨询公司R.W. Mann and Company总裁罗伯特·曼恩说，“零部件会配备全生命周期的纸质文件。”在航空业，飞机上的每一个零部件都会被仔细追踪，以确保其来源和质量都有据可查。单个故障部件可能会造成灾难性的安全后果。
据路透社报道，发动机制造商CFM国际公司在6月意识到这些问题，当时一家葡萄牙维修店提醒CFM国际公司，称发现带有CFM名称的伪造文件。到8月，英国民航局[UK’s Civil Aviation Authority,相当于美国联邦航空管理局（Federal Aviation Administration）]发布了一份安全公告，宣布正在“调查”来自AOG Technics的“大量未经批准的可疑零部件的供应情况”。鼓励从AOG Technics购买任何零部件的航空公司和维修店核实零部件是否确实来自经销商声称的地方。
欧洲航空监管机构——欧洲航空安全局（EASA）几乎在同一时间发布了一份通知，证实某些文件是伪造的，会使人误以为AOG Technics的零部件来自合法制造商。欧洲航空安全局在声明中写道：“在每个造假案例中，[批准放行证书]上标明的批准机构都证明该表格并非来自其组织内部，而且证书是伪造的。”周四，美国联邦航空管理局（FAA）成为最新一家发布关于AOG Technics伪造零部件计划通知的监管机构。
飞机零部件灰色市场中的“深度造假”公司
曼恩说：“虽然飞机零部件的灰色和黑色市场一直都存在，但大多数都是由不讲信用的客户购买的，但这是一个‘深度造假’公司伪装成合法供应商欺骗了许多合法买家的案例。”
他告诉《财富》杂志，灰市产品通常是经过认证或被认为可以维修的零部件，但因其不符合其他要求而报废。相反，这些零部件“被廉价出售给需要廉价替代品的客户”。黑市交易的性质可能更加恶劣，通常涉及向受国际制裁的国家出售军事技术，例如向伊朗出售备用的F-14战斗机。
曼恩还将部分责任归咎于买家。他说：“同样令人不安的是，本应能够对供应商进行适当审查的成熟客户却上当受骗，这可能会危及客户、员工和飞机的安全。”
截至上周，欧洲航空安全局表示，“迄今为止，还没有关于未经批准的可疑零部件导致问题的报告。”
我们对 AOG Technics 及其创始人了解多少？
根据英国的公开文件，AOG Technics由何塞·亚历杭德罗·萨莫拉·伊拉拉于2015年创立。据彭博社报道，除了涉嫌伪造飞机零部件文件外，AOG Technics似乎还在领英（LinkedIn）上伪造了几个自称是公司高管的个人资料。该公司首席商务官邝雷和执行销售代表约翰尼·里科的个人资料中有照片和工作经历，但这些都无法得到他们所谓的前雇主的证实。
对伊拉拉名下其他文件的进一步调查显示，他在英国还创立了另外两家公司：房地产公司Kensho Group LTD和电子商务供应商Sunwave Solutions。伊拉拉在Sunwave的商业伙伴里卡多·马奎隆·切德劳伊告诉彭博社，该公司“在亚马逊上销售厨房电器，以在疫情期间消磨时间”。Kensho于2023年1月倒闭，而Sunwave似乎仍在运营——或者至少没有申请解散。
伊拉拉的文件提供了一些关于以不寻常方式运营企业的见解。其中几份文件错字连篇，包括高管头衔拼写错误，以及奇怪的大写单词，似乎是有人按下了大写锁定键而不是“大写首字母”键。其他文件显示了一系列公司地址的变更，其中一些地址要么追溯到了伦敦的一处联合办公空间，要么追溯到西萨塞克斯郡寂静小镇上一位现已退休的会计师的办公室。
2021年1月向英格兰和威尔士公司注册处提交的公司注册证书显示，Kensho的总部与AOG Technics在伦敦的地址相同——距离白金汉宫仅几个街区的North Nova大厦。据彭博社报道，在这座金碧辉煌的高档写字楼里，AOG Technics以每月100美元的价格从联合办公空间The Argyll Club租用了一个“虚拟”地址。2021年4月，Kensho申请将地址更改为西萨塞克斯郡海沃兹希思镇的一处住宅，该地址与Brian Cook Associates的地址相同（Brian Cook Associates是一家私人会计事务所，在原始公司注册证书中被列为代理）。伊拉拉的电子商务公司Sunwave Solutions就是在西萨塞克斯郡的同一个地址注册的。(布莱恩·库克没有回应置评请求。)
AOG Technics的网站和领英个人资料已无法激活，在谷歌上搜索该公司时，也被列为“永久关闭”。该公司没有回应置评请求。伊拉拉和AOG的律师告诉路透社，他们正在全力配合英国民航局的调查。
哪些航空公司发现了假冒零部件？
西南航空公司是首家披露在其飞机上发现来自AOG Technics未经批准的零部件的大型航空公司。该公司在8月份首次意识到这一问题，“并采取了必要措施，以确保我们的机队中没有任何来自AOG的零部件。”在西南航空的供应商对其零部件进行审查后，该公司从其中一架喷气式飞机上拆除了两个低压涡轮叶片。
几天后，维珍澳大利亚航空公司（Virgin Australia）也发现其飞机上使用了带有伪造文件的涡轮叶片。在大洋洲和北美洲的航空公司都发现了来自欧洲供应商的零部件，这表明，航空业面临的问题是全球性的，以及追查每一个可能涉嫌以虚假名义出售的零部件是多么困难。一周后，维珍澳大利亚航空公司发现了另一个不同的零部件，这次是涡轮喷嘴，被用在了另一架喷气式飞机上。两架飞机都被停飞，直到更换零部件。维珍澳大利亚航空公司的一位发言人表示，安全是公司的“重中之重”，公司采用了“高度严格的维护方法”来确保安全。
上周早些时候，美国联合航空公司成为第三家披露在其飞机上发现AOG Technics假冒零部件的航空公司。该公司表示，在两架美国联合航空公司喷气式飞机的发动机中发现了未经注册的零部件。这两架飞机正在进行必要的维护，更换零部件后才能重新使用。美国联合航空公司表示，将“根据供应商提供的新信息，继续进行调查”。美国航空公司表示，它将“继续与供应商和美国联邦航空管理局合作，确保供应商不再提供这些零部件或不在飞机上使用这些零部件。”（财富中文网）
译者：中慧言-王芳
About 100 planes around the world have been caught up in a scandal that would be cartoonish if it weren’t so terrifying. It saw a dubious company, with fake employees and an address that was a glorified PO box, sell and distribute fake airplane parts that ended up in planes belonging to some of the world’s biggest airlines. On Thursday night, American Airlines became the fourth, and so far final, airline to have found parts from AOG Technics in its aircraft. Southwest kicked off the disclosures from various airlines around the world in early September, when it became the first to announce it had located an unregistered part from AOG Technics.
American Airlines “identified the uncertified components on a small number of aircraft,” according to an emailed statement to Fortune, while Southwest told Fortune it had identified one engine that contained two parts from AOG Technics.
The parts scandal comes as the latest development in a series of difficulties that have embroiled the airline industry. It has had two consecutive summers plagued with seemingly constant flight delays and cancellations as “revenge travel” grips a worldwide public eager to get out after a pandemic-era hibernation. American Airlines and United both had to navigate the high-wire act of negotiating new pilots union contracts—and both did so successfully. But the prospect of faulty parts, albeit affecting a small fraction of the world’s fleet of roughly 25,500 commercial aircraft, is swiftly piling up delays. Regulators, airlines, and parts suppliers around the world are scrambling to track down possible bogus parts as the AOG Technics scandal spreads from the U.S. all the way to Australia.
The mysterious London-based firm stands accused of falsifying certain documents and shipping the suspect parts to airline repair shops around the world. Companies like AOG Technics are middlemen that supply parts to independent firms that airlines contract to do repairs on their planes. The parts in question were used to repair jet engines made by CFM International, a joint venture between GE and the French firm Safran, used in older models of Airbus and Boeing engines. CFM is now suing AOG Technics in London’s High Court to get access to documents that would illustrate the extent of its fraud, so that all the bogus parts can be tracked down. So far, CFM believes AOG Technics may have sold thousands of parts with fraudulent documentation.
“Parts are accompanied by a lifetime of paperwork,” said Robert Mann, president of the airline industry consulting firm R.W. Mann and Company. In the aviation industry, every part of a plane is carefully tracked to ensure its provenance and quality are accounted for. A single faulty part could have catastrophic safety consequences.
CFM, the engine manufacturer, became aware of the issues in June when a Portuguese repair shop alerted it to the existence of allegedly forged documents bearing its name, according to Reuters. By August, the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (the country’s equivalent of the Federal Aviation Administration) had released a safety notice announcing it was “investigating the supply of a large number of Suspect Unapproved Parts” originating from AOG Technics. Airlines and maintenance shops that had purchased any parts from AOG Technics were encouraged to verify whether they had actually come from where the distributor claimed they did.
Europe’s aviation regulator, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), released a notice around the same time confirming that certain documents had been forged to make it appear as if AOG Technics’ parts had come from legitimate manufacturers. “In each confirmed example, the approved organization, identified on the [Authorized Release Certificate], has attested that the form did not originate from within their organization, and the certificate has been falsified,” the EASA’s statement read. On Thursday the FAA became the latest regulator to issue a notice about AOG Technics’ bogus parts scheme.
A “deep fake” company in the gray market of airplane parts
“While there have always been gray and black markets in aircraft parts, mostly purchased by questionable customers, this is a case of a “deep fake” company masquerading as a legitimate supplier that deceived many legitimate buyers,” Mann said.
He told Fortune that gray market products are often component’s that are either certified or deemed repairable but don’t meet some other requirement and should therefore be scrapped. Instead these parts “get sold cheaply to customers who need inexpensive replacements.” Black market dealings can be slightly more nefarious in nature, often entailing sale of military technology to countries that are under international sanctions, such as selling spare F-14 fighter jets to Iran.
Mann also laid some portion of the blame at the buyers’ feet. “It is also disturbing that sophisticated customers who should have been able to properly vet the supplier were nonetheless duped, potentially placing safety of customers, employees, and aircraft at risk,” he said.
As of last week the EASA said “to date there have been no reports of problems resulting from the suspect unapproved parts.”
What do we know about AOG Technics and its founder?
AOG Technics was founded by Jose Alejandro Zamora Yrala in 2015, according to public filings in the UK. In addition to allegedly forging documents for airplane parts it appears that AOG Technics created several fake LinkedIn profiles claiming to be company executives, according to Bloomberg. The profiles listed for its chief commercial officer Ray Kwong and an executive sales representative Johnny Rico featured stock photos and employment histories that couldn’t be verified by any of their purported former employers.
A further look into other filings under Yrala’s name show he founded two other companies in the UK: real estate company Kensho Group LTD and ecom vendor Sunwave Solutions. Yrala’s business partner at Sunwave Ricardo Maquilon Chedrauy told Bloomberg the company sold kitchen appliances “on Amazon to kill time during the pandemic.” Kensho folded in January 2023 and Sunwave appears to still be operational—or at least hasn’t filed for dissolution.
Yrala’s filings offer some insight into businesses that were run in an unusual fashion. Several of the filings are riddled with typos, including misspelled executive titles and oddly capitalized words that appear to have happened when someone hit caps lock instead of the “A” key. Other documents show a series of shifting corporate addresses, some of which end up back at either a coworking space in London and the offices of a now-retired accountant in a sleepy West Sussex town.
A Certificate of Incorporation filed with the Registrar of Companies for England and Wales in January 2021 listed Kensho’s headquarters at the same London address of AOG Technics—the North Nova building just a few blocks from Buckingham Palace. Within the upscale, gleaming office tower AOG Technics rented a “virtual” address from coworking space The Argyll Club for $100 a month, according to Bloomberg. In April 2021, Kensho requested an address change to a residence in Haywards Heath, West Sussex that is the same address of Brian Cook Associates, a private accounting practice listed as an agent in the original certificate of incorporation. That same West Sussex address was used to incorporate Yrala’s ecom company Sunwave Solutions. (Brian Cook did not respond to a request for comment.)
AOG Technics’ website and LinkedIn profile are no longer active and a Google search for the company lists it as “permanently closed.” The company did not respond to a request for comment. Lawyers for Yrala and AOG told Reuters they are cooperating fully with an investigation opened by the CAA.
What airlines have found fake parts?
Southwest Airlines was the first major airline to disclose that it had found uncertified parts that originated from AOG Technics in its aircraft. It first became aware of the problem in August “and took necessary steps to ensure we do not have any parts in our fleet from AOG,” the company said. After Southwest’s suppliers conducted a review of its parts the company removed two low pressure turbine blades from one of its jets.
A few days later, Virgin Australia also found a turbine blade with forged documents had been used in its planes. The fact parts from a European supplier were found in airlines in Oceania and North America illustrated just how global an issue the industry was facing and how difficult it would be to track down every individual part that may have been allegedly sold under false pretenses. A week later Virgin Australia discovered another, different part, this time a turbine nozzle, had been used in a second jet. Both planes were grounded until replacements could be installed. A spokesperson for Virgin Australia said safety is the company’s “highest priority” and it applies a “highly stringent approach to maintenance” to ensure it is upheld.
Earlier this week, United became the third airline to disclose it had identified AOG Technics’ bogus parts in its airplanes. Two United jets were found to have had unregistered parts in their engines, the company said. Both planes are undergoing the requisite maintenance to replace the part before being used again. United will “continue to investigate as new information becomes available from our suppliers,” the company said. American Airlines said it would “continue working” with suppliers and the FAA “to ensure these parts are no longer in our supply or otherwise in use on our aircraft.”
