Regarding the article "New Technology Could Protect Against Parts Counterfeiting, (see Jan. 2009 Aviation Maintenance, page 8), this is a good idea, but would not be viable for all aviation parts. The industry would find that it is not cost effective for all parts and components. The best application would be on larger end units such as avionic boxes, computers, instrumentation and actuators. In reality, the issue with counterfeit aircraft parts is very rarely associated with these types of components. Also it may not be technically viable on components that are subject to high heat such as internal engine parts.

There is also a big difference between counterfeit (fake, bad) and suspected unapproved parts (could be bad, such as improperly documented cycle documentation for cycle-controlled parts such as those used internally to engines and on landing gear or could possibly be good parts, but without all pedigree documentation).

As far as identifying parts that can cause an incident, a simple bolt or lockwasher that either is not the proper part or installed incorrectly can cause an incident. How would it be possible to identify every mission-critical component on an airframe and tag it?

Name withheld