Investigations
Florida Aircraft Mechanic Pleads Guilty To False Certification of Commercial Aircraft Parts
On August 17, 2021, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, David Alexander Barcena pleaded guilty to falsely certifying various aircraft parts as airworthy and eligible for installation on commercial aircraft. On February 16, Barcena was indicted by a Federal grand jury. The indictment alleged that between December 2016 and May 2017, Barcena certified that commercial aircraft parts—including anti-icing valves, a hydraulic reservoir assembly, and a landing gear actuator—were ready for service using falsified FAA airworthiness approval tags. Barcena allegedly sourced the tags from a defunct FAA-approved repair facility where they had been employed as the chief inspector.
DOT-OIG is conducting this investigation with substantial assistance from the FAA Flight Standards Division Office, Miramar, Florida.