Virgin Atlantic cancels flight when passenger notices missing wing bolts. On another note, here's a real ad the airline ran.

Not The Bee ^ | 22 January 2024 | Staff

[logi_cal869]

Airbus, the maker of the aircraft, assures us that with 119 fasteners on each wing, the missing 4 bolts weren't going to put anyone in danger or disrupt the flight.

[Uncle Miltie]

How does the CEO feel about Gay Drag Shows for Kids?

[Red Badger]

Probably so!...................

[Macoozie]

Ya ever ride in a NYC Taxi?
That’s what airplanes are, city taxi cabs in the air.
I’ll never voluntarily fly again.

If she makes me get on a plane, when we get back I get to buy the single malt of my choice. And no complaints will be heard.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Yes, many aircraft HAVE CRASHED on takeoff due to flap locks left in place, tail stabilizer locks, and criss-crossed wires going to the flaps and control/tail surfaces. Including the first-built B-17. .

[Magnum44]

Your statement is not incorrect, but these aren’t ‘bolts’, they are fasteners, there to keep a panel on, not holding the wing together. It’s the kind of thing you write up and let maintenance fix at the next stop. Inspection panel fasteners wiggle loose. Not a big deal in small numbers. I have reported such on many aircraft and still flown.

[Getready]

Are their other loose bolts that are on the fuselage in front of the engines? Could they fall out and get sucked into the engine?
Poor and potentially deadly quality control.

[linMcHlp]

The 119 [mentioned in the article] flathead machine screws [aka “the fasteners”], are for a panel situated on the top surface of the Airbus A330-300 wing.

[NWFree]

Just think about all the bolts you can’t see from your passenger seat

[PAR35]

“Look for - the Union label...”

[going hot]

SSGT asked us, "how many rivets on this bird?"

Correct answer, "as many as there are holes for!"

[megaMAGA]

Anyone ever watch Air Disasters on the Smithsonian channel ?

Those investigators that figure out why a plane crashed have to be
The smartest people on the planet.

[Red Badger]

Yes, We watch it whenever it’s on...............

[Brooklyn Attitude]

“How, exactly, does the author KNOW for CERTAIN that the engineer is doing it properly?”

There is a tool called a torque wrench that is used to make sure the proper amount of force is used when tightening a screw or bolt.

[Political Junkie Too]

I was binge watching it on On Demand before the holidays. I'll have to pick up where I left off now that the season is over.

-PJ

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I don’t see a torque wrench. Or torque screwdriver.

[Brooklyn Attitude]

“I don’t see a torque wrench. Or torque screwdriver”

I suggest you Google it.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I suggest you tell us.

[FrozenAssets]

Many years ago up here a civil C-130 freighter had been outside for an engine change. One of the bolts was left out. On the way back from the far north the affected turbine broke loose and rotated about 90 degrees. The propeller cut the main wing spar which failed. That wing went over the top of the fuselage and took out the other wing. The crew found themselves at high altitude in what had become a wingless fuselage. It took far too long to fall.

One bolt.

[fireman15]

An article that calls Philips head screws... bolts is intentionally misleading. The caption to the picture showing the missing screws being installed tells the tale, “Here's video of the engineer on the wing with a screwdriver putting the bolts in properly”. Bolts are not installed with a “screwdriver”.

This is an intentional misuse of language to make a fairly innocuous situation sound more serious. This is what the media does all of the time these days. They of course do it in the other direction as well. Riots where people are looting and burning businesses and killing people are called “mostly peaceful demonstrations”.