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Editor: Mike Bothwell
Profession: Qui Tam Attorney

Category: Settlements and Verdicts

Pratt & Whitney and one of its subcontractors, PCC Airfoils LLC, has agreed to pay the United States over $52 Million in a False Claims Act settlement for a case which alleged that the companies deliberately sold defective turbine blade replacements for jet engines used in military aircraft.

Under the FCA settlement, Pratt & Whitney has agreed to pay $45.5 million and will also provide $4.825 million for the reinspection of potentially functional blades bought by the U.S. Air Force. PCC will pay $2 million.

The investigation by the government focused on allegations that between 1994 and 2003, the replacement turbine blades and casts provided by the defendants failed to meet a critical design dimension. This defect is believed to be the cause of the crash of an F-16 fighter aircraft on June 10, 2003 in Arizona. Fortunately, in that incident, the pilot was able to eject safely.

The settlement was negotiated by the Justice Department's Civil Division.