Testing Faked on Parts for Pratt & Whitney Jet Engines

Pratt & Whitney (P&W) said Carmel Forge Ltd. fraudulently adjusted test results on 40,000 forged jet engine disks over the course of 15 years. The disks serve as hubs in jet engines to which compressor and turbine blades are attached.

Both the Connecticut-based jet engine maker and Israel-based component maker are business units of United Technologies Corp.

While P&W has known about the rigged testing for almost two years, the company only made the situation known on March 4. P&W first learned of the situation in June 2011 when an anonymous employee blew the whistle on the fraudulent practice. The employee alleged that Carmel Forge rigged the results in order to bypass additional inspection, the company said.

P&W launched an internal investigation into the situation upon being alerted by the employee. The investigation confirmed the employee's information and led to an engineering review and metallurgical testing of the affected parts.

The review concluded that there was no impact on safety or durability of the parts made by Carmel Forge. An independent investigation by the US government also concluded that the parts were not compromised. "There have been no product recalls, service bulletins, or airworthiness directives, and there are no flight safety risks," Pratt spokeswoman Stephanie Duvall said.

A more detailed report by Hartford Courant reporter Brian Dowling may be may be found here.