Menu
Federal Contractor Misconduct Database (FCMD)
The federal government routinely awards contracts to companies with
histories of misconduct, including
…
contract fraud and other
violations. POGO believes that providing this website will help to
improve contracting decisions and increase public knowledge of how
the government spends billions of taxpayer dollars each year.
Read more…
Defective Crankshaft Design
Interstate Southwest Ltd. sued Textron Inc.’s Lycoming engines division alleging Lycoming was responsible for several incidents between 1999 and 2001 involving small aircraft equipped with Lycoming engines that failed when the planes’ crankshafts broke in flight. Interstate Southwest supplied Lycoming with crankshaft forgings but claimed Lycoming’s crankshaft design was defective and that Lycoming fraudulently concealed information about the failures. In 2005, a Grimes County, Texas jury found Lycoming liable for fraud and ordered it to pay Interstate $96 million in damages. In November 2007, a Texas appeals court partly affirmed and partly reversed the trial court verdict. It agreed that the crankshaft failures were caused solely by a defect in Lycoming’s design and nullified Lycoming’s counterclaim, but the court also set aside the damages award.
- Misconduct Type
- Non-governmental Contract Fraud
- Enforcement Agency
- Non-Governmental
- Contracting Party
- Non-Governmental
- Court Type
- Civil
- Disposition
- Judgment Against Defendant
- Date of Appellate Opinion
- 11/1/2007