Virgin Atlantic flight grounded as passenger spots missing bolts on plane wing
A British man recalled the panic he and his partner experienced once he noticed plane they were on was missing four fasteners on the wing. He subsequently recorded the flight crew try to fix it with a screw driver.
Phil Hardy was jetting off to New York with his partner Magdalena Bobusia 46, on January 16 for his first holiday abroad in 14 years when he noticed the issue on the plane's wing during the safety briefing. Horrifying photos snapped by Phil whilst on board the plane show a segment of the plane's wing appearing to be missing four fasteners.
And, after reporting the issue to a flight attendant who then raised the issue with the pilot, an engineer was called on board to investigate further and was then seen to conduct 'maintenance' checks on the wing. Footage shows a member of staff tinkering with the fasteners with a screwdriver while Phil wonders out loud if the man was trying to 'spread the screws about'.
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Phil said his partner Magdalena Bobusia "wasn't a good flyer" to begin with (Kennedy News & Media)The 41-year-old claims after reporting the issue to Virgin Atlantic staff, he was continuously told by staff on board and the engineer that there was no problem with the plane's wing. But after failing to fix the 'fault', the VS127 flight to John F Kennedy International Airport was cancelled and all passengers had to disembark and find alternative routes to get to their destination.
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According to Airbus Local Chief Wing Engineer for A330, each wing panel on one of these Airbus models has 199 fasteners.The affected panel was a secondary structure used to improve aerodynamics of the plane and the four tops that were missing 'did not impact the structural integrity of the wing, the load capability of the wing or the ability of the aircraft to operate safely'.
Despite this, Phil said he was worried about the plane's safety and said his partner, who isn't a good flyer, was panicking about the incident. Phil, from Hull in East Riding of Yorkshire, said: "I noticed the four screws missing during the safety briefing."I could see all the fixings on the wing and they were all white and I could see the crossheads on the screws and then there were just four that were black."
Phil informed the flight attendant who then informed the pilot (Kennedy News & Media)
The pilot sent a crew member out to thew wing to rectify the situation (Kennedy News & Media)After taking a photo you could see the holes through to the top layer in the wing. "I thought it was best to mention it to a flight attendant to be on the safe side. "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." Virgin Atlantic staff and the engineer kept telling me that the screws weren't missing and there wasn't an issue with the plane.
"It was frustrating because I knew they [the screws] were missing and I felt a bit fobbed off and like they [Virgin Atlantic] were trying to downplay the issue." [Recently another flight lost their door mid-flight because of faulty screws and] this was definitely at the forefront of my mind and I've watched enough crash investigations to know it doesn't take a lot to bring down a plane and I started to get a bit more worried."
After watching the engineer climb onto the wing to carry out checks multiple times, Phil claims he saw the engineer mouth to another worker down below that the screws were missing. The self-employed gardener claims he then watched the engineer try and put one of the existing screws into one of the holes but it wouldn't fit. Phil said: "At one point, the engineer removed one of the screws from a different hole and tried to put it in one of the holes [where the screws were missing] and it wouldn't go in.
"Following the announcement of the cancelled flight via email, Phil and Magdelana were eventually able to make their journey to New York the following morning but it meant they lost out on nearly two days of their trip. And, despite being upgraded to premium economy on their outward flight, Phil said his Virgin Atlantic experience has left a 'sour taste in his mouth'.
Phil said: "We were told via email that our flight had been cancelled and we needed to collect or bags." There were no Virgin Atlantic staff around [at the airport] to tell us what to do and we had to queue for over an hour to see the one member of staff available."We eventually managed to get on a 4:30am flight to Heathrow and then fly from there to JFK."We were upgraded to Premium economy which was very nice of them."[On this flight] the thought of the screws was at the forefront of my mind but because it was pitch black on the flight, I couldn't see anything, which was probably for the best."
Because of our cancelled flight and not landing until Tuesday afternoon we missed out on doing some of the tourist things we had booked like the Statue of Liberty and The Summit. "We haven't heard anything from Virgin Atlantic and we haven't reached out to them yet."This experience hasn't put me off flying altogether but it has left a sour taste in my mouth." Virgin Atlantic said that the safety of customers and the onboard crew was its 'top priority' and that this 'was not compromised at any point'. It added that it 'always works well above industry safety standards' and that the aircraft is now back in service. A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said:
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