In Brief : Airplane Parts Suppliers Probed

A federal task force and grand jury are investigating whether used or bogus airplane parts are being resold with false certification papers to unknowing aviation companies.

No crashes have been traced to defective parts, but investigators said such evidence often is destroyed by crashes.

“We’re not saying a particular part is defective, but there’s a system set up to ensure their integrity, and when that system is breached that compromises the integrity,” said U.S. Atty. Gene Anderson.

Anderson’s office is conducting the investigation along with agents of the FBI, Internal Revenue Service, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Air Force and Navy, the Seattle Times reported Sunday.

Anderson would not name companies targeted in the investigation or reveal any pending indictments. He said the task force, nicknamed NORDECON for Northwest Defense Contractors although the scope now is national, originally was formed to examine fraud in defense contracts in the military and aerospace industries.

The task force is focusing on the production, purchase and resale of surplus and used aerospace parts.