A Virgin Atlantic flight bound for New York was canceled moments before takeoff last week when an alarmed passenger He noted that he saw that several screws were missing from the plane’s wing.
Phil Hardy, 41, was traveling with his partner from Manchester, United Kingdom, to the United States on the plane when he saw that four screws were missing from the wing and decided to alert the cabin crew during the passenger safety session.
“I’m a good flyer, but my partner didn’t like the information I was telling him and She started to panic, and I was trying to calm her down as much as I could.“Hardy told the Kennedy News agency and cited by the New York Post.
He added: “I thought it was best to mention it to a flight attendant to be safe.”
Engineers climbed onto the wing with screwdrivers to retighten the boltswhile airline staff allegedly told Hardy there was no safety risk, the New York Post reported.
However, the couple was fearful because their flight was on January 15, just weeks after an Alaska Airlines plane was forced to make an emergency landing after a plane panel exploded mid-flight. .
No danger to fly
Both Virgin and Airbus emphasized that There was no impact on the safety of last week’s planes despite missing fixes.
However, the airline preferred to cancel the flight. in order to “give time to carry out additional and preventive engineering maintenance checks.”
“The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority and this was not compromised at any time,” the Virgin representative said in a statement cited by the media. “We always work well above industry safety standards and the aircraft is now back in service.”
Airbus engineer Neil Firth explained that the missing screws were part of a panel used to improve aerodynamics, but it was not necessary for the overall stability of the plane.
“Each of these panels has 119 fasteners, so there was no impact on the structural integrity or load capacity of the wing, and the aircraft was safe to operate,” he explained. “As a precautionary measure, “The aircraft underwent an additional maintenance check and the fasteners were replaced.”
Passengers were rebooked on new flights to New York, and the airline expressed its apologies to those affected.
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2024-01-22 21:20:57
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