Prosecutors say Italian firm produced 4,000 flawed parts for Boeing

An Italian supplier at the centre of recent industrial snags on the 787 Dreamliner airplane produced more than 4,000 non-compliant parts destined for Boeing Co (BA.N) over five years, a preliminary report from Italian prosecutors shows. Initial results of an investigation launched earlier this year suggest that Manufacturing Process Specification (MPS), or its now-bankrupt predecessor company Processi Speciali, produced flawed parts between 2016 and 2021, according to the document. According to the report, the suspect titanium parts made it into 35 Boeing 787 fuselages. It added that the Brindisi-based supplier also made parts for the Boeing 767, a freighter model which is now also used as the basis for a U.S. Air Force tanker. The investigation aims to establish whether MPS or its predecessor firm produced flawed components that could threaten air safety, a risk that has been denied by Boeing. Boeing declined direct comment on the prosecutors' document, parts of which were first reported by Italian daily Il Corriere del Mezzogiorno. It reiterated, however, that airworthiness had not been affected. "While our assessment is ongoing, this does not present an immediate safety of flight concern," a spokesperson said.<br/>