Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation has confirmed that one of its metal suppliers has been caught fabricating inspection data on its products, but that is not expected to have any impact on the development programme for the MRJ regional jet.
In a statement provided to FlightGlobal, Mitsubishi says that “non-conforming” products were delivered by Japanese supplier Kobe Steel and have been used on the MRJ programme.
Media reports indicate that Kobe Steel workers rewrote inspection data when aluminum and copper products that failed to meet customer specifications over a 10 year period.
Mitsubishi Aircraft says, however, that engineering investigations on the MRJ parts made from metal supplied by Kobe Steel found that it “remains within our design standards we originally set for aircraft safety”, and thus the safety of the jet is not in question.
While it continues to investigate the situation, the manufacturer adds that there is no impact on the development schedule for the jet.
Mitsubishi Aircraft aims to deliver the first 90-seat MRJ90 to launch customer All Nippon Airways in mid-2020
Source: Cirium Dashboard
