Posted on 01/22/2024 6:17:30 PM PST by Red Badger
A Virgin Atlantic flight was about to takeoff for the Big Apple when a nosy passenger peeked out their window and realized that something was off with the wing.
Yeah, the WING to the plane had screws missing! That's what you call a critical oversight.
They would have taken off if it hadn't been for the observant passenger:
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."
The guy was gonna let it be, but he let his wife know about the missing screws and her nervousness caused him to talk to the attendant who passed it up the appropriate channels, causing a delay while they repaired the plane.
Here's video of the engineer on the wing with a screwdriver putting the bolts in properly:
Eventually, Virgin Atlantic canceled the flight, deciding that it would be best to give the entire plane the once-over before carrying on with business as usual.
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.
Virgin Atlantic, however, seems more worried about making sure their flights are as gay and black as possible and not as safe as possible.
This is a real ad they ran a few years back đ
VIDEO AT LINK.............
Paying attention might save your life, ladies and gents.
Got on an airliner and noticed a crack but it had a stop hole drilled in it. It was within limits but if the crack went past the hole I would have mentioned it. Was right over the door and I don’t see how most passengers missed it. These days many would have made a big issue out of it.
You would think a wing skin fastener would be be torqued in with blue thread lock or something.
Forgot to add that if I did mention it, reporting it could have caused us a several hour delay just to get a mechanic to come out ad declare the crack and stop drill within limits. Was in such a prominent place that it was textbook example and teachable moment of what a stop drill was supposed to be.
Can’t use anything on aircraft fasteners as it would give an unreliable torque value.
I guess I have heard that.
Been a few years since I owned or played with airplanes.
On the Cessna aircraft I had, screws were used on inspection panels. The skin was riveted to airframe .
My PA-22 was fabric covered so no fasteners.
Perhaps William Shatner was aboard the prior flight.
Watching the video it appears that the screws wouldnât tighten, stripped threads Iâd imagine.
https://www.pprune.org/tech-log/57222-boeing-737-400-engine-panel-screws-missing.html
I am a frequent passenger on a local airline's B737-400s. On the top surface of the engine fairing there is a four sided panel, the rear edge of which is in line with the rear of the slats. Looking out of the cabin window I often notice a number of missing screws around the edge of the panel.
Can anyone tell me how many of these screws are permitted to be absent? Should I be considering getting off when a row of six are not present?
The nuts are fixed, anchored, including a kind of nut plate - and the part may be broken, such that the nut spins . . . and thus screwing in the required flathead machine screws, is difficult.
Nut plates:
https://www.aircraftfast.com/aircraft_nut_plates.htm
Rule of thumb is torque 'em till they smoke, then back off a 1/4-turn.
You are assuming the writer actually knows the difference.
You are giving them waaaaay too much credit..............đ
âHow, exactly, does the author KNOW for CERTAIN that the engineer is doing it properly?â
I thought you were asking a practical question about how a mechanic would know he is installing a fastener to factory specifications. Your question is more philosophical. The answer is that no one knows FOR CERTAIN that anyone in the airline industry or ANY industry is doing their job correctly on any given day. We have to trust in the competence and conscientiousness of the workers in the business to keep it operating safely. That’s tough to do in these days of lowering standards and D.I.E. policies. You have to assess the amount of risk you are willing to take to fly, drive or anything else. The alternative is to stay home and crawl under your bed. It’s not perfectly safe out here.
No excuse - someone needs to be fired because that’s supposed to be checked....
ISWYDT!.......................
the bolts fell out
cuz the nuts were busy doing a commercial
They are be torqued like a flared hyd fittings. 1-3 flats past sharp tq rise. So most likely 1\4 turn past sharp torque rise.
That person has an eagle eye.
Never fly without a shoestring and a prayer.
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