Airbus and EASA are still working to assess whether seats manufactured by Koito Industries and currently fitted to in-service aircraft meet airworthiness standards, following the Japanese firm's revelation that it falsified safety test results on as many as 150,000 seats used by 32 carriers.
In October 2009 Airbus set up dedicated teams in Europe and Japan to work together with EASA, Koito, the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB), Boeing, the FAA and some Koito airline customers "to understand the breadth and depth of the problem" after weaknesses were identified in the Koito quality management system, says Airbus.
But last month, in a stunning admission, Koito confirmed it fabricated test data on seats on as many as 1,000 aircraft.
Evidence from the JCAB highlights three areas where Koito fabricated results - 16g and 9g test data and flammability data. Airbus is currently prohibited by EASA from delivering aircraft with Koito seats.
However, the European airframer and EASA are still trying to determine the depth of the issue, and its potential fallout for Airbus customers that are are flying with Koito seats. "It's too early to say, because Airbus and EASA are presently discussing the proposed measures to determine the continued airworthiness of Koito seats installed on Airbus in-service aircraft," says Airbus.
Boeing, meanwhile, is on site at Koito to make sure tests on newly-made seats are done correctly before allowing the seats to be shipped to its factories in Puget Sound. Despite these efforts, a number of Boeing customers that ordered Koito seats face delivery delays, as do some Airbus customers.
The FAA has not indicated if it will issue an airworthiness directive.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
