New-York bound flight cancelled after passenger spots missing bolts on plane wing

A Virgin Atlantic flight, bound for New York, was cancelled last week moments before takeoff, after a passenger noticed several missing screws from the plane’s wing. According to a report with the New York Post, the incident happened on January 15, when 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 video shared on social media showed an engineer climbing onto the plane’s wing and using a screwdriver to tinker with some of the fasteners.

The missing screws were spotted by 41-year-old British traveller Phil Hardy, who was onboard flight VS127 at Manchester Airport in the United Kingdom.

Hardy alerted the cabin crew moments later.

Upon being asked about the same, Hardy told the New York Times, “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. I thought it was best to mention it to a flight attendant to be on the safe side.”

Hardy also said the 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.