The Brindisi financial police seized numerous metal components in the Grottaglie (Taranto) plant of Leonardo for the production of sections number 44 and 46 of the fuselages of the Boeing 787. The components were produced by the companies Special Processes and Manufacturing Process Specification on Leonardo’s commission which is the injured party in the proceedings. The seizure was ordered because – according to the investigations – the components were produced using metals (titanium and aluminum) differing in quality and origin from those prescribed by the client and, in any case, in violation of the relative technical specifications.
“Grade 2” titanium
Processi Speciali and Mps, operating in Grottaglie, allegedly “stably” used “structural metal components by purchasing the raw material from suppliers not certified by Leonardo” and used “grade 2 titanium” instead of the “titanium alloy” prescribed by the client . Grade 2 titanium – it is written in the seizure decree – “has mechanical properties and structural resistance much lower than those of the aforementioned alloy”. According to the prosecutor’s hypothesis, the passenger floor structure of the 787 was also produced with «titanium 2».
2016-2021 supplies are targeted
Non-compliant supplies would have been produced from 2016 until January 2021. The “alerts” were initiated by personnel within the MPS. In addition to the issue of the fuselage sections of the Boeing 787, the non-conformity of a total number of aluminum components equal to 4,193 units, all produced by Mps and delivered to Leonardo starting from 9 January 2019 and up to 26 January 2021. In particular, according to the evidentiary seizure decree, the non-conformity of “four different types of components produced in aluminum” was reported: the “sliding housing” for a total of 4099 pieces, two types of «Machined part Ca ‘for a total of 55 pieces and, finally, 39 pieces of Splice». Eight people under investigation, for various reasons, for criminal association aimed at commercial fraud and an attack on the safety of air transport. These include the entrepreneurs Vincenzo Ingrosso and their sons Antonio, Alberto and Andrea, managers of the two companies involved.