The legal and financial troubles of diesel engine maker Thielert have left high-profile airplane programs from Diamond and Cessna in a state of uncertainty.
Thielert Aircraft Engines is currently being overseen by a government administrator after the company filed for insolvency earlier this year amid a financial crisis and criminal investigation into the company’s record keeping. Company founder Frank Thielert and a chief financial officer were both fired by the board, and a criminal investigation of the company’s accounting practices is under way. While operating under interim government funding, Thielert is continuing to produce engines, albeit at a slower rate, and spare parts are hard to come by and exorbitantly expensive.
