Air Force Paid $317 for Spare Toilet Pans Produced for $90

The Air Force paid $317 each for toilet pans for a military transport aircraft but a plastics maker for the service told congressional investigators that he has made the item for less than $90, it was reported Sunday.

The price paid by the Air Force for the spare toilet pans--a fiberglass part that looks like an oversized cookie sheet--was first revealed last week in a report by the General Accounting Office.

Last year, it was reported the Air Force paid $640 for toilet seats.

Jesse Sandoval, a plastics maker at the Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, said he had produced the pans at less than a third the price paid under a contract with Lockheed Corp.

An investigator for the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations said the Air Force should have consulted with its own craftsmen on the price.

Eric Thorson, an Air Force assistant deputy secretary, told United Press International that the idea of consultation was “excellent.”