Page 13 - AAA NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2013 Online Magazine

FEATURE COMPONENT REFURBISH

the Institute of Electrical and Electronics in particular, how you treat it.” And it is
Engineers. The Senate committee this treating aspect that is the key. Most
investigated about 100 of those cases responsible operators see the broad in-
and found defective parts for the C-17 dustry and ecological benefit in recycling
military transport, the CH-46 helicopter, and standardised remanufacturing – the
and more. The committee asked the unscrupulous ones simply see the profit.
Government Accountability Office to set According to Finnegan, Henderson,
up a fake company to purchase electronic Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP
parts for military systems online, which (Finnegan), one of the world’s largest legal
disturbingly discovered suppliers willing firms that deals in intellectual property
to sell components having imaginary part (IP) and counterfeiting law, fake aircraft
numbers. Worse, when supplied with real parts directly affect operators’ bottom
part numbers, the parts supplied were line to a massive degree. They quote the
found to be counterfeits. International Chamber of Commerce as
estimating that more than 7% of all global ABOVE: Olivier Malavallon,
Important Waste components are fakes – with a US$350 EU Commission’s Process
“An aircraft is not a unique form of waste billion price tag to go with them ending up for Advanced Management
material,” explains Olivier Malavallon, in some questionable pockets. of End of Life of Aircraft
project director of the European Com- Not only that, the company asserts
mission’s Process for Advanced Manage- that the FAA estimates that counterfeit TOP: Some C-17s were
ment of End of Life of Aircraft (PAMELA) or “suspected unapproved parts” found to have suspect parts
recycling initiative. “What is important contributed to 174 aircraft crashes and following a US Senate
is what you do with the material and, other accidents between 1973 and 1996 committee investigation
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