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NYC-bound flight canceled when passenger notices missing bolts on plane wing
nypost.com ^ | January 22, 2024 | Emily Crane

Posted on 01/22/2024 9:05:58 AM PST by lowbridge

A New York-bound Virgin Atlantic flight was canceled just moments before takeoff last week when an alarmed passenger said he spotted several screws missing from the plane’s wing.

British traveler Phil Hardy, 41, was onboard Flight VS127 at Manchester Airport in the UK on Jan. 15 when he noticed the four missing fasteners during a safety briefing for passengers and decided to alert the cabin crew.

“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,” Hardy told the Kennedy News agency of the moment he spotted the missing fixings.

“I thought it was best to mention it to a flight attendant to be on the safe side.”

Engineers were promptly called out to carry out maintenance checks on the Airbus A330 aircraft before its scheduled takeoff to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, a Virgin Atlantic rep said.

Footage shot by Hardy showed one of the engineers climbing onto the plane’s wing before using a screwdriver to tinker with some of the fasteners.

Hardy said airline staff repeatedly reassured him there was no safety issue with the wing, but his fear was heightened given the recent ordeal in which an Alaska Airlines plane lost its door plug and a chunk of its fuselage flew off mid-flight.

Both Virgin and Airbus stressed there was no impact to the safety of last week’s aircraft despite the missing fixings.

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Travel
KEYWORDS: aviation; flying
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1 posted on 01/22/2024 9:05:58 AM PST by lowbridge
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To: lowbridge

Sounds like DEI has moved into the Maintenance Bays now.


2 posted on 01/22/2024 9:07:25 AM PST by BobL (Trump gets my vote, even if I have to write him in; Millions of others will do the same)
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To: lowbridge

The price of DEI.


3 posted on 01/22/2024 9:07:28 AM PST by brownsfan (It's going to take real, serious, hard times to wake the American public.)
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To: lowbridge

DEI (read: affirmative action) in aviation and medicine, two high risk fields in which incompetence causes death. Thanks, Marxists.


4 posted on 01/22/2024 9:11:06 AM PST by twister881
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To: lowbridge
Hardy said airline staff repeatedly reassured him there was no safety issue with the wing,

Well, that's comforting. Bolts are missing but the stewardess says its OK.

5 posted on 01/22/2024 9:11:44 AM PST by Opinionated Blowhard (When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.)
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To: lowbridge

(when an alarmed passenger said he spotted several screws missing from the plane’s wing.)

Good thing they’re pushing 50+ year old white men out of the work force.

How’d that work out for Richard Stockton Rush III?


6 posted on 01/22/2024 9:11:46 AM PST by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
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To: lowbridge

SNL actually had a pretty funny “ad” by Alaska Airlines in which a happy spokesman said, “You know those loose bolts on our wings? We’re going to tighten some of them!”


7 posted on 01/22/2024 9:11:47 AM PST by ClearCase_guy
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To: BobL

Another reason why I am glad I don’t have to fly commercial.


8 posted on 01/22/2024 9:13:52 AM PST by wally_bert (I cannot be sure for certain, but in my personal opinion I am certain that I am not sure..)
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To: lowbridge

Sounds like dzus fasteners. They are often used to secure access panels and fairings. They may have been no safety issue, but someone didn’t finish the job.

Returning to the gate for maintenance is the right move.

EC


9 posted on 01/22/2024 9:14:09 AM PST by Ex-Con777
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To: ClearCase_guy

Hah......that is funny.


10 posted on 01/22/2024 9:14:49 AM PST by Liz (Matthew 11.28-30: Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give strength.)
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To: lowbridge

The holes make it lighter. The ejected window too.

Go sit down.


11 posted on 01/22/2024 9:15:02 AM PST by If You Want It Fixed - Fix It ( )
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To: All

Just wondering.

Should I report this to the FAA?

I was riding by the WH and I saw drJill with a wrench walking towards Joe’s helicopter.


12 posted on 01/22/2024 9:17:18 AM PST by Liz (Matthew 11.28-30: Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give strength.)
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To: Opinionated Blowhard

(Hardy said airline staff repeatedly reassured him there was no safety issue with the wing,)

Low-I.Q. and/or terrified of telling the truth for fear of losing their jobs by embarrassing the company.

EVEN at the risk of their OWN LIVES.

I am reminded of United Airlines Flight 173 in 1978.


13 posted on 01/22/2024 9:18:27 AM PST by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
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To: lowbridge

Were those bolts important?


14 posted on 01/22/2024 9:18:49 AM PST by NWFree (Sigma male 🤪)
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To: Opinionated Blowhard

“ Well, that’s comforting. Bolts are missing but the stewardess says it’s OK.”

The air head said they without bolts all the time


15 posted on 01/22/2024 9:21:08 AM PST by NWFree (Sigma male 🤪)
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To: NWFree

Nah. Nothing that a little duct tape couldn’t fix.


16 posted on 01/22/2024 9:21:18 AM PST by lowbridge ("Let’s check with Senator Schumer before we run it" - NY Times)
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To: lowbridge

one of the engineers climbing onto the plane’s wing before using a screwdriver to tinker with some of the fasteners.
= = =

I thought that work was for Union Members only.

That engineer is in BIG trouble!


17 posted on 01/22/2024 9:21:39 AM PST by Scrambler Bob
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To: Ex-Con777

(but someone didn’t finish the job.)

Ain’t nobody got time for that!!

There’s a new rap / Taylor Swift video / song!!!

Ooh, funny cat video!!


18 posted on 01/22/2024 9:21:53 AM PST by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
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To: lowbridge

Better than getting to 20,000 feet and then seeing a creature out there on the wing messing with the fasteners.


19 posted on 01/22/2024 9:22:26 AM PST by HartleyMBaldwin
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To: lowbridge
Nah. Nothing that a little duct tape couldn’t fix.

Flex Tape. It even comes in white to match the wing.



20 posted on 01/22/2024 9:26:50 AM PST by T.B. Yoits
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