A passenger noticed a problem on their flight moments before take-off, forcing it to be cancelled.
The Virgin Atlantic VS127 flight to John F Kennedy International Airport, was due to take off on Monday (January 15) at Manchester Airport. But a passenger soon noticed a problem with bolts on the wing.
The flight was cancelled just moments before take off. Inspections soon discovered the tops of four fasteners were missing from a panel on the wing.
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A passenger had noticed the problem and informed cabin crew on board, the Manchester Evening News reports. Specialist engineers then attended and the flight was cancelled as a precautionary measure and for the relevant checks to be undertaken.
It is understood that each of the wing panels on the Airbus A330 has 119 fasteners, and that 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".
A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said: “The VS127 from Manchester to New York JFK on 15 January, operating on an Airbus A330, was cancelled to provide time for precautionary additional engineering maintenance checks, which allowed our team the maximum time to complete their inspections.
"The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority and this was not compromised at any point. We always work well above industry safety standards and the aircraft is now back in service. We’d like to apologise to our customers for the delay to their journeys.”
Passengers on board were still flown to JFK after being placed on alternate flights and the missing tops of the fasteners were later replaced.
Airbus Local Chief Wing Engineer for A330 Neil Firth added: "Aviation safety is our number one priority. The panel in the image is a secondary structure panel, used to improve the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft.
"Each of these panels has 119 fasteners so there was no impact to the structural integrity or load capability of the wing, and the aircraft was safe to operate. As a precautionary measure, the aircraft underwent an additional maintenance check, and the fasteners were replaced."
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