Grounded F-35s: Israeli company fraudulently changed test results over 15 years

March 6, 2013 by legitgov

Grounded F-35s: Israeli company fraudulently changed test results over 15 years 04 Mar 2013 (CT) Pratt & Whitney discovered nearly two years ago that one of its foreign business units had fraudulently adjusted test results on tens of thousands of engine parts to bypass additional inspection, the company said Monday. The unit, Carmel Forge Ltd. in Israel, changed test results for more than 40,000 forged disks over 15 years, Pratt said. In jet engines, the disks serve as hubs to which compressor and turbine blades are attached. According to an internal company memo obtained by The Hartford Courant, Pratt launched an internal investigation in June 2011 after an employee tipped off the company to the problem. In late February, the military grounded its fleet of F-35s after examinations found a crack in a low-pressure turbine blade in Pratt's F135 engine.