Manchester Airport had to halt a flight moments before take-off after a passenger spotted a problem with the wing.
The VS127 flight from Manchester to the JFK Airport in New York, USA, was stopped from taking off on Monday 15 January after a serious issue was spotted. Engineers were given time to carry out "maintenance checks" and inspect the aircraft after four fasteners were found missing from a panel on the wing.
This came after a string of recent aircraft incidents around the world, including one losing a panel mid-flight, leaving passengers terrified as it was forced to make an emergency landing. The latest problem only came to light after a passenger spotted the issue and alerted cabin crew. It is understood the issue posed no safety issue to passengers on board. Specialist engineers attended and the flight was cancelled as a "precautionary measure" to allow further checks to be undertaken.
The Manchester Evening News reported 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."
The panel is a secondary structure panel that is used to improve the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft. However, the long-haul transatlantic flight was still cancelled. The missing tops of the fasteners were later replaced.
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The airline said the safety of customers and the crew on board is 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. Passengers on board were still flown to JFK after being placed on alternate flights.
The cancellation came just days after a different Virgin Atlantic flight to Barbados made an emergency landing at Manchester Airport and was met by fire crews after the cockpit reportedly “filled with smoke”. The airline admitted that there had been a “technical issue” and apologised for the disruption at the time.
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."
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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