EASA warns non-airworthy stolen engine parts could re-enter the market

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is warning airlines, maintenance providers and parts buyers to be on the lookout for 625 non-airworthy turbofan engine parts that were stolen after a shipment in Spain was fraudulently rerouted before the components could be destroyed.

EASA said the parts were part of a shipment “intended for mutilation,” the process used to render time-expired or otherwise non-airworthy parts unusable. But a third party impersonated the contracted mutilation provider and diverted the shipment in late January 2026, the agency revealed in a notice published on March 26, 2026.

EASA publicized the urgent notice under reference OC-EASA-2026002221 after Spain’s national aviation authority reported the case to the agency on March 17. The shipment consisted of 12 containers, three of which held critical or life-limited parts that had not yet been mutilated. EASA said the parts may now be offered for sale on the open market and urged owners, operators, maintenance organizations and distributors to inspect inventories, records and aircraft against the published part and serial numbers.

The affected components span four widely used turbine engine families: the CFM56, IAE V2500, Pratt & Whitney PW1100G and Rolls-Royce RB211. These are commercial engines flown in Airbus A320ceo, A320neo, Boeing 737NG and Boeing 757 fleets, among others.The stolen shipment included non-airworthy turbofan engine parts spanning bearings, seals, blades and disks, with much of the material identified as critical or life-limited parts.

EASA has not said any of the stolen parts have been found on aircraft or installed in service, but the agency’s decision to publish a detailed parts list suggests regulators see a real risk that some of the parts could resurface in the aftermarket.

The warning comes against the backdrop of the AOG Technics scandal, which erupted in 2023 and exposed how vulnerable the engine-parts supply chain can be when documentation and provenance break down. CFM International said in October 2023 that 126 engines were suspected of containing falsely documented AOG-supplied parts, prompting regulators including EASA and the US Federal Aviation Administration to force airlines to inspect affected aircraft.

Airlines caught up in that scandal included Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, TAP, Ryanair, WestJet and Virgin Australia. The director of AOG Technics pleaded guilty in late 2025 after UK prosecutors alleged the scheme involved falsified paperwork tied to CFM56 engine parts between 2019 and 2023.The post EASA warns non-airworthy stolen engine parts could re-enter the market appeared first on AeroTime.

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