Post by graybeard on Feb 12, 2010 19:45:33 GMT -6
From ABC, Australia Broadcasting Co.
Plane seat safety tests faked
By Sarah Dingle for The World Today Updated Fri Feb 12, 2010 4:04pm AEDT
Japan's biggest manufacturer of airline seats has admitted that it falsified seat safety tests.
Koito Industries has sold about 150,000 of the suspect passenger seats to major airlines including Japan Airlines, Singapore Airlines and possibly to Australia. After a company employee blew the whistle, the president of Koito Industries Limited this week formally apologised at a press conference in Japan. He said the company and the management were responsible for the falsification of fire resistance data for tens of thousands of plane seats. Industry expert and aviation editor for West Australian Newspapers, Geoffrey Thomas, says the revelation is extremely disturbing.
"The seats are a critical part of an aircraft," he said. "It's related to the fabric covering of the seats. There's a possibility that they may not have passed the fire certification standard. Of critical importance is the fire retardancy of the fabrics, of the seats, and the internal structure of the seats, the foam.
"[They] all have to meet very rigorous standards, burn-through standards, because one of the major killers in an air crash is smoke."
Rest of the article at: www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/02/12/2818146.htm
It's an "adherence to contracted standards" issue between industrial partners who are, in turn, subject to regulatory oversight. If Koito routinely falsifies data on an industrial scale (which it has admitted), then does that attitude carry across to its other products?
Aircraft exterior/interior lights
Caution warning panels, other LCDs
Hydraulic equipment
Interior equipment including control sticks
Marine lighting
------------------ And, Koito is 20% owned by -- Toyota!
GB
Plane seat safety tests faked
By Sarah Dingle for The World Today Updated Fri Feb 12, 2010 4:04pm AEDT
Japan's biggest manufacturer of airline seats has admitted that it falsified seat safety tests.
Koito Industries has sold about 150,000 of the suspect passenger seats to major airlines including Japan Airlines, Singapore Airlines and possibly to Australia. After a company employee blew the whistle, the president of Koito Industries Limited this week formally apologised at a press conference in Japan. He said the company and the management were responsible for the falsification of fire resistance data for tens of thousands of plane seats. Industry expert and aviation editor for West Australian Newspapers, Geoffrey Thomas, says the revelation is extremely disturbing.
"The seats are a critical part of an aircraft," he said. "It's related to the fabric covering of the seats. There's a possibility that they may not have passed the fire certification standard. Of critical importance is the fire retardancy of the fabrics, of the seats, and the internal structure of the seats, the foam.
"[They] all have to meet very rigorous standards, burn-through standards, because one of the major killers in an air crash is smoke."
Rest of the article at: www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/02/12/2818146.htm
It's an "adherence to contracted standards" issue between industrial partners who are, in turn, subject to regulatory oversight. If Koito routinely falsifies data on an industrial scale (which it has admitted), then does that attitude carry across to its other products?
Aircraft exterior/interior lights
Caution warning panels, other LCDs
Hydraulic equipment
Interior equipment including control sticks
Marine lighting
------------------ And, Koito is 20% owned by -- Toyota!
GB