Скачать или смотреть Aerospace Firm Pays $1.5M for Pushing Shoddy Ejection Seat Parts

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Teledyne Electronic Safety Products (Teledyne ESP), an aerospace and defense electronics company based in Chatsworth, California, has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle allegations it sold parts to the Department of Defense that were not up to contract specifications.

The firm’s False Claims Act violations can be traced back to the manufacture of Digital Recovery Sequencer (DRS) units used in ejection seat systems. The devices, which were developed to replace the Analog Recovery Sequencer used in similar systems on F-15, F-16, F-22, A10, B-1B and B-2 aircraft, are critical. They precisely sequence functions including pilot escape, seat stabilization and parachute deployment.

According to a U.S. Justice Department complaint, Teledyne ESP supplied a small electronic part for the DRS units from a third party that was neither an authorized reseller nor an OEM. Those non-conforming parts were delivered to the Navy between November 2011 and June 2012.

Special Agent in Charge Derrell Freeman with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations unit said the settlement reflects his agency’s commitment to “rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse in the defense supply chain,” adding that the Air Force and DoJ will “aggressively pursue and hold accountable any contractor that fails to meet contract requirements that protect the safety and readiness of U.S. military personnel.”

Teledyne ESP was given credit for its efforts to support the investigation, including identifying witnesses and facilitating their interviews.

Ejection seat systems must work precisely to ensure personnel safety. In 2020, a fatal F-16 crash at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina was blamed in part on an ejection seat system parachute failing to deploy.