The FBI headquarters confirmed that some of their agents were "assisting the Irish police" in its investigation into the alleged sale of unapproved aircraft parts yesterday.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is also involved in the investigation according to a spokesman in Los Angeles, Mr Jerry Snyder, but he could not say if there were FAA agents in Ireland.
He told The Irish Times the FBI was the "lead agency" in the investigation. If "unapproved parts" were to be identified, then "the FAA would put out an alert to the aviation community to inspect those parts. But that remains to be seen," he said.
The FAA has a division at Dulles Airport outside Washington dealing with "Suspected Unapproved Parts" for civil aircraft. It is able to investigate "foreign entities" if the parts have been installed on a US-registered aircraft. "Other situations may require evaluation or co-ordination with foreign civil aviation authorities."
If the suspected parts are in the military domain, the FAA will investigate "only if the part has a civil application".