A Virgin Atlantic flight from Manchester to New York was abruptly cancelled due to a passenger’s alertness regarding missing bolts on one of the plane’s wings. The concerned traveler, a 41-year-old British man aboard Flight VS127 on January 15, noticed four fasteners were absent during a safety briefing and promptly informed the cabin crew. Following the passenger’s alarming discovery, engineers were promptly notified and conducted necessary maintenance checks on the aircraft.
Phil Hardy, the passenger in question, expressed his decision to bring the issue to the flight attendant’s attention, stating, “I’m a good flyer, but my partner was not loving the information I was telling her and starting to panic, and I was trying to put her mind at rest as much as I could. I thought it was best to mention it to a flight attendant to be on the safe side,” in an interview with the Kennedy News agency.
Virgin Atlantic spokesperson informed Fox Business that the flight was ultimately cancelled “to provide time for precautionary additional engineering checks, which allowed our team the maximum time to complete their inspections.” The inspection team discovered that four out of the 119 fasteners on the wing panel were missing, as confirmed by Virgin Atlantic.
Both Virgin Atlantic and Airbus, the airplane manufacturer, assured that no passengers were at risk. Airbus’ local chief wing engineer stated that the missing fasteners did not compromise “the structural integrity or load capability of the wing, and the aircraft was safe to operate.” The safety of customers and crew remains a top priority for Virgin Atlantic, and the aircraft is now back in service.
In light of this incident, it is noteworthy that an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 9 MAX faced an emergency on January 6 when one of its doors blew open mid-air. Consequently, the FAA has grounded 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 planes until enhanced inspections, encompassing left and right cabin door exit plugs, door components, and fasteners, are completed.
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