The Libyan Public Prosecution Office has ordered the detention of officials of two airline companies Libyan Airlines and Afriqiyah Airways following several aircraft incidents due to negligence in conducting timely inspections and the intentional replacement of parts that did not meet the approved specifications (counterfeit aircraft parts).
The introduction of counterfeit aircraft parts into the aviation industry, often accompanied by forged documentation, significantly impacts the values of aircraft components, posing a severe threat to safety and reliability.
These counterfeit parts, from critical systems like engines to safety equipment, can infiltrate the supply chain, leading to catastrophic consequences such as engine failures, mid-air emergencies, and accidents.
Counterfeit aircraft parts have been a big discussion last year when "AOG Technics", a London-based firm, was implicated in a significant scandal for selling engine components with fake documents.
The scandal affected several airlines, with 86 falsified documents covering various engine part numbers. The incident raised alarms about the depth of the problem within the industry's supply chain.
About another accusation on these Libyan carriers is Aircraft maintenance, which is part of the process of aircraft technical activity, conducted on aircraft whilst it remains in the line maintenance or base maintenance environment. Aircraft maintenance is intended to keep the aircraft in a state airworthy, which will or has enabled a certificate of release to service to be issued.
As reported by the Libya herald, the Attorney General has reported that its Deputy Public Prosecutor has detained, pending further investigation, the Managers of Afriqiyah Airways and Libyan Airlines, as well as eight others in their respective Airworthiness Continuity, Technical Affairs, Air Safety, and Compliance Monitoring Departments.
According to the deputy prosecutor, the detention of the officials was due to their failure to perform inspections at the required times, in accordance with the standards set by the manufacturer, as well as their deliberate substitution of parts that did not meet the approved specifications and were installed in unlicensed locations.
Examining various airline accidents related to the operation of aircraft and other incidents affecting the safety of air transport, the Deputy Public Prosecutor concluded that the causes of aircraft accidents were represented in neglecting to conduct inspections at the time they were due.
Management also played a role here as the Deputy Public Prosecutor found that the management of the two companies violated civil aviation safety regulations by knowingly operating flights that did not meet the necessary airworthiness, thus endangering the lives of passengers and the surrounding environment.
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