A Virgin Atlantic flight bound for New York from Manchester Airport was canceled just before takeoff when a passenger, Phil Hardy, noticed several missing screws from the plane’s wing. Hardy, a British traveler, spotted the missing fasteners during a safety briefing and decided to alert the cabin crew. Engineers were called to conduct maintenance checks on the Airbus A330 aircraft, and one of them was seen climbing onto the plane’s wing to address the issue.
Virgin Atlantic emphasized that there was no impact on the safety of the aircraft despite the missing fixings. The airline representative stated that the flight was canceled to provide time for precautionary additional engineering maintenance checks. They assured that the safety of customers and crew was never compromised, and the aircraft is now back in service.
Neil Firth, the Airbus local chief wing engineer for A330, explained that the affected panel was a secondary structure used to improve the aerodynamics of the plane. Each panel has 119 fasteners, and the missing screws did not impact the structural integrity or load capability of the wing. The aircraft underwent an additional maintenance check, and the fasteners were replaced as a precautionary measure.
Hardy expressed concern due to recent aviation incidents, such as an Alaska Airlines plane losing its door plug and a chunk of its fuselage mid-flight. However, both Virgin Atlantic and Airbus maintained that the missing screws had no safety implications for the affected flight. Passengers were rebooked onto alternate flights, and the airline apologized for the delay.