Passenger Notices Missing Screws On New York-Bound Plane Moments Before Take Off, Virginia Atlantic Cancels Flight | VIDEO

A New York City-bound Virgin Atlantic flight was cancelled just moments before takeoff when a concerned passenger onboard observed missing screws on the plane's wing. 41-year-old Phil Hardy who was aboard the VS127 flight at Manchester Airport on January 15, identified four missing fasteners while the cabin crew was giving the safety briefing to the travellers.

The Britisher to ensure safety, alerted the cabin crew about his observation. "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 describing the moment he spotted the missing fixings.

Virgin Atlantic Flight to New York Canceled Due to Missing Wing Screws, Passenger Raises Safety Concerns

A Virgin Atlantic flight from Manchester to New York was canceled moments before takeoff last week when a passenger spotted missing screws from the plane’s wing

Phil Hardy,… pic.twitter.com/r0zURFqYph

— Unlimited L's (@unlimited_ls) January 22, 2024

"I thought it was best to mention it to a flight attendant to be on the safe side," he said. Even though, the airlines' crew tried to comfort him about the situation, Hardy's apprehensions could not be limited as he recalled the recent Akasa Airlines malfunction.

In the incident, Akasa Airlines' flight had lost a door and a portion of its fuselage mid-air at around 16,000 feet, sometime after it had taken off.

The incident caused an uproar in the aviation sector sparking discussions on flight safety and people criticising the poor maintainance of Boeing aircrafts.

Following Hardy's alert, engineers went swiftly into action checking the Airbus A330 aircraft before it took off for its destination to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City.

The footage of the incident was captured by the Briton which shows the engineer climbing onto the flight's wing with a screwdriver to address the issue of missing fasteners.

Virginia Atlantic and Airbus both stressed that despite the absent fixings, there was no compromise to the safety of the flight.

"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," the airlines' representative said in a statement.

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