Lockheed Martin Sold Defective C-5 Airplane Parts, According To A US DoD Report

The US Department of Defense has accused Lockheed Martin of supplying C-5 aircraft to the US government with defective parts, according to a report released Tuesday.

The report released by the Inspector General of the Department of Defense states Lockheed’s defective parts caused the government to use its money to repair or replace the parts. It did not take enough action to correct the persisting problem and Lockheed Martin has overstepped its authority in its relationship with the government in the past three years.

It adds that the office of the Inspector General conducted an evaluation after it received a complaint from a hotline on May 29, 2013. The evaluation found evidence to support the claims made by the hotline caller on four accounts.

The government replaced the engines, spending $585,000 in labor and replacement parts kits, according to the report.

The government also spent $14 million paying several contractors to redraw engineering drawings and wiring diagrams for the C-5 planes to replace the inaccurate drawings submitted by Lockheed, the report said.

According to the report, “This design defect could result in the blade tips braking off, and exiting out of the engine tail pipe causing additional damage to the engine.”

The defect would not cause the plane to crash while flying, according to General Electric, which manufactured the engines, but the company said the engines must be removed from the plane as soon as it landed to prevent “complete engine loss.”

The report also states Lockheed did not follow proper procedure in reporting when parts on its planes were in need of repair. Lockheed was allowed to judge its own errors, ranking them as, “minor, major or critical.”

That responsibility should be left up to the Defense Contract Management Agency of the DOD, according to the report.

“As a result, the government failed to establish an environment and an expectation to decrease the number of non-conformances on delivered aircraft,” the report states.

Chad Gibson, spokesman for the Modification, Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul department of Lockheed told the Marietta Daily Journal, “The C-5 program will respond to the issues raised in the report. We have a great partnership with the Air Force and will work with the DOD and Air Force to address any issues substantiated in the report. Lockheed Martin and the C-5 program are committed to excellence and delivering the highest quality aircraft to the Air Force.”