Koito Industries

Japanese plane seat maker admits falsifying safety data
Print this page Send to friendPublished on ASDNews: Feb 9, 2010
TOKYO, Feb 9, 2010 (AFP) - Japanese airplane seat maker Koito Industries has said it had fabricated safety data on 150,000 seats used by 32 carriers, the latest trouble to hit the country's reputation for reliability.

The seats manufactured by the Yokohama-based firm are used in about 1,000 Boeing and Airbus aircraft, including more than 300 planes of the two major Japanese carriers Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways. Its international customers include Air Canada, KLM, Scandinavian Airlines and Singapore Airlines.

"I deeply apologise," company president Takashi Kakegawa told a news conference late Monday.

"The whole section in charge was systematically involved in it," he said. "We did wrongdoing on concerns that we would delay our delivery if we failed in tests."

Japan's transport ministry has already instructed the company to improve its business operations, but stressed there was no problem with the planes continuing to fly.

The manufacturer omitted part of a test process and used figures from past tests, the ministry said, adding that the data falsification could have been going on since the mid-1990s.

The nation's largest plane seat maker was ordered by the ministry to retest the products to confirm their safety and would fix them if necessary, the company said.

The company is a subsidiary of Koito Manufacturing, an auto parts maker affiliated with Toyota Motor, now under fire over recalls of millions of vehicles worldwide due to problems with accelerator pedals and floor mats.

The world's largest automaker is expected to pull as many as 300,000 Prius hybrid vehicles as early as Tuesday because of a problem with the braking system.

Toyota Motor has no direct equity stake in Koito Industries.


by Michael Thurston
(c) 2010 AFP

Airbus and Boeing by late February expect an update on the safety of Koito Industries’ seats after the Japanese supplier confirmed it breached safety rules over several years.

The airframers also are witnessing tests by Koito that include crashworthiness and flammability. If negative, as many as 150,000 seats on 1,000 aircraft could be affected, according to data released by the Japanese government.

“Boeing is completing dynamic, static and flammability testing on all classes of seats to verify compliance with FAA regulations. This will have implications for both production airplanes, as well as the fleet,” said the U.S. manufacturer in a statement.

“We have found no safety of flight issues,” it added.

Airbus meanwhile confirmed it has established teams in Europe and Japan to work with Boeing, regulators and some Koito customers “to understand the breadth and depth of the problem.”

“We have informed our customers whose delivery schedules are directly affected by this situation, and we are working with them to find alternative seat suppliers where possible. Only a very small number of Airbus airline customers are affected. We are not aware of any history of in-service events related to Koito seats,” said Airbus.

The first indications of a problem came to light last year when the Japanese company was accused of falsifying records on its flammability tests, an issue that Airbus and Boeing investigated and believed was rectified.

This was followed in the summer with a review by the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau of charges that Koito had also falsified data from its 16g impact survival tests. Just months later, the flammability falsification issue returned and, according to Boeing, remains unresolved.

In response, the European Aviation Safety Agency in September suspended Koito’s production rights. No such mandate was issued by FAA.

Last week, Koito finally confirmed it had falsified test results and made unauthorized design changes, a statement that EASA immediately warned could result in an airworthiness directive.

Koito’s deception, however, has already started to delay aircraft deliveries to its customers, which have no seats to install in their new airframes. These include Singapore Airlines’ 11th Airbus A380 and five A330-300s destined for Thai Airways.

The delivery of two Continental Boeing 737-800s scheduled in January has also been deferred because the carrier has no seats, and a spokeswoman for the Houston-based airline confirmed that the problem could delay more of its 2010 deliveries.

Boeing stops offering Koito seats to new customers

Boeing is no longer allowing the installation of Koito seats on new-build Boeing aircraft, in a decision that puts the future of the embattled Japanese firm's aircraft seat business into question.

In a statement to ATI and Flightglobal, a Boeing spokeswoman says: "For new orders, Boeing has chosen alternate suppliers to furnish seats for our customers."

She says Boeing is still working with Koito, the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) and its airline customers that have existing orders "to ensure Koito is delivering seats that meet safety and design requirements".

Earlier this year Koito admitted it fabricated test results on as many as 150,000 seats on 1,000 aircraft in the world fleet. The firm's problems created fall-out on both sides of the Atlantic with delivery of some Airbus and Boeing aircraft delayed. By the time of Koito's announcement, however, EASA had already withdrawn production organisation approval for Koito, effectively prohibiting Airbus from delivering aircraft equipped with Koito seats.

Continental Airlines, a significant Koito customer, has seen several of its Boeing 737-800s delayed. The carrier revealed this week that the aircraft are being fitted with B/E Aerospace-made seats and that it now expects to take delivery by the end of August.

"Passenger seats are a BFE (Buyer Furnished Equipment) commodity, and it is the customer that decides what seats are placed on their aircraft. Continental has made the decision to install seats from alternative seat suppliers on their current aircraft. We are working closely with each of our affected airlines to best support their aircraft deliveries," says Boeing.

Airlines fret over cost of seat safety row

* Koito seat checks may be ordered after safety row

* Checks could affect 150,000 seats on 1,000 planes

* Company says not notified, declines further comment

* Industry body questions whether airlines should pay

By Mariko Katsumura and Tim Hepher

TOKYO/PARIS, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Airlines appeared on a potential collision course with regulators on Friday over the cost of carrying out proposed checks on over 100,000 passenger seats in the wake of a row over questionable safety data.

The proposed safety order comes seven months after Japanese seat manufacturer Koito Industries admitted changing designs without following procedures and faking safety test results, prompting a 33 percent slump in its shares in February.

U.S. and European safety agencies said on Thursday they were proposing mandatory checks on Koito-manufactured seats, estimated to affect 150,000 seats on 1,000 mainly Airbus and Boeing planes.

The plan is subject to a two-month consultation exercise.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said the controls, designed to check protection against injury during emergency landings or the accelerated spread of fire, would affect over 40,000 seats on 278 aircraft registered in the United States.

It estimated the cost of the exercise to U.S. airlines alone at $875,000.

In Europe, an industry body expressed concern over the call.

"We are examining the directive and trying to work out its consequences. It does seem to us very legalistic rather than safety-based," said David Henderson, spokesman for the Association of European Airlines in Brussels.

"The fault is not with (airlines) but with the manufacturer. From that point of view, I would be surprised if the airlines would be happy to pick up the cost. The real worry is that there will be some kind of legalistic ban on using the seats altogether and having to scrap them."

Thai Airways said it had replaced Koito as seat supplier and that it planned to sue the Japanese company for compensation for delayed delivery of seats.

Industry officials said the airline had taken delivery of at least one Airbus A330 without seats while it sought a solution.

Airlines buy seats separately from the rest of the aircraft but usually have them installed by the planemaker before delivery. The seats must be certified as safe by the same safety regulators that provide authority for the aircraft to fly.

Aircraft seats typically cost $2,300 in economy but can cost as much as $150,000 in first class, according to the FAA.

Under the proposed European directive issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), airlines would have to check any seats supplied by Koito within two years or remove them.

A separate FAA proposal would give airlines longer.


MAJOR CUSTOMERS

The measures mark the first international response by regulators since Koito publicly apologised for supplying false test data in February and said it had received a "business improvement order" from the Japanese transport ministry.

Koito said on Friday it had not received any request from the U.S. or European authorities or anyone else regarding the safety checks, and a spokesman declined further comment.

Koito's shares eased 0.7 percent in Tokyo.

An official from Japan's transport ministry said it was "carefully studying what it can or should do" about the seats.

Koito started business in 1915 making lenses for railway signal lamps and began making car headlamps in the 1950s. It also makes seats for Japan's high-speed bullet trains.

Among major clients, Koito lists Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways, Singapore Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and Continental Airlines.

Its percentage share of the world market for aircraft seats is in the low single digits, according to industry surveys.

However, its seats have been on some high-profile layouts, including the first business class seats to be fitted on the world's largest airliner, the Airbus A380, when the European superjumbo first flew for Singapore Airlines.

Airbus said only 3 percent of its aircraft in operation, or around 200 planes, included Koito seats in any of their cabins.

Japan Airlines would not say how many Koito seats it had, but a spokesman said it was "a large number".

Singapore Airlines "will review the proposed regulatory requirements imposed by EASA and work closely with Koito and the aircraft manufacturers to resolve any outstanding issue", said Nicholas Ionides, vice president of public affairs.

The market for aircraft seats is led by B/E Aerospace of the United States and France's Zodiac, with Germany's privately owned Recaro in third place.

"Recaro has already taken on some orders that Koito was unable to fulfil, and Recaro certainly expects that there will be further requests," a spokeswoman for Recaro said on Friday. (Additional reporting by Tim Kelly, Harry Suhartono, Matthias Blamont, Maria Sheahan, Manunphattr Dhanananphorn; Editing by Will Waterman)

Airbus has granted an exceptional authorization to allow the installation of business class seats from Koito Industries on Singapore Airlines' delayed Airbus A380 aircraft, despite the embattled Japanese manufacturer's admitted falsification of data on some 150,000 seats in the world fleet, ATI and Flightglobal has learned.
A new exceptional authorization issued by the European airframer accepts under Airbus production organization approval (POA) Koito-made business class seats for SIA's 12th A380, MSN058, although comments from SIA suggest the carrier intends to have Koito seats installed on at least three delayed A380s.
"We have three A380 deliveries coming up in the next few months and the priority has been on working with Airbus and Koito to meet certification requirements for the business class seats," a SIA spokesman confirms.
Airbus' exceptional authorization is understood to have been issued with a number of stipulations, including EASA approval prior to delivery.
It comes some 19 months after Airbus POA for Koito was pulled, meaning Koito "cannot produce seat or seat parts for airborne use", Airbus said in a previous telex on the matter.
Early last year Koito made the stunning revelation that it falsified safety test results on as many as 150,000 seats on 1,000 aircraft used by 32 carriers. Evidence from the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) highlighted three areas where Koito fabricated results - 16g and 9g test data and flammability data. Multiple sources say Koito used its own rubber stamp to falsely indicate that some seats had cleared tests by the JCAB. The debacle has caused aircraft delivery delays at both Airbus and Boeing.
Later in 2010 EASA and the US FAA issued proposed airworthiness directives, with the European agency taking a harder line than its US counterpart, although its proposal did not cover the A380.
To date, SIA has taken delivery of 11 A380s. Delivery of SIA's 11th A380 was delayed due to problems with Koito seats. The carrier had expected to receive its 12th and 13th A380s in the fourth quarter of 2010 and its 14th A380 in the first quarter of 2011.
The SIA spokesman says the delay of SIA's A380s is "only related to seats".
Airbus could not provide immediate comment.