wiredinUSA June 2014

C h a r l e s A L i n d b e r g h a n d t h e S p i r i t o f S t - - L o u i s - 10 th May 1927

Lindbergh’s fastener supplier files for bankruptcy

A company that made fasteners for the airplane that Charles Lindbergh flew solo across the Atlantic has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and notified employees that it could close by July. John Hassall Inc could lay off all 83 employees, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Hassall makes custom designed metal parts and fasteners for the aerospace, automotive and defense industries. The 157-year-old company says its products have ranged from metal parts on Lindbergh’s Spirit of St Louis, to high-strength bolts for modern jet engines. The company has suffered ‘declining revenue as a result of the general downturn’ in the industries it serves and the economy as a whole, and its sales during the first quarter were lower than expected, president and chief executive Theodore B Smith III wrote in a court affidavit.

According to the notice, the potential closure is due to economic factors.

In a published report Richard Bennett, a financial consultant for Hassall, said the company has enough financing to continue operations, and it hopes to emerge intact from the bankruptcy proceedings.

wiredInUSA - June 2014 i I

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