Phil Hardy, from the UK, was preparing to head to New York with his partner Magdalena Bobshia for his first overseas holiday in 14 years when he noticed a problem with his plane. Mr Hardy expressed concern that a bolt was missing from one of the plane's wings, which led to the cancellation of the Virgin Atlantic flight.
The 41-year-old claimed that after discussing the issue with a Virgin Atlantic employee, he was repeatedly informed by both the engineer and the crew that there was no problem with the wing, the Mirror reported.
“During the safety briefing, I noticed four screws were missing. I could see all the fasteners on the wing, and they were all white, and I could see the crossheads of the screws. And only four were black,” Hardy said. he told the Mirror. (Also read: IndiGo passenger shares 'late night view' from airport after flight delay)
She added: “I'm a good flyer, but my partner didn't like the information I was giving her and was starting to panic, so I was trying to calm her down as much as I could.” .
However, as the issue was not resolved, flight VS127 to John F. Kennedy International Airport was canceled and all passengers were forced to disembark.
Virgin Atlantic inspectors found that four caps were missing out of 119 fasteners on the wing panels. Eventually, workers replaced the old fasteners with new ones. (Also read: Air India leaflet appalled by 'vegetable meal with chicken'; airline apologizes)
A spokesperson for Virgin Atlantic told FOX Business that the airline “allows time for additional preventive technical inspections, which maximizes the time our teams have to complete inspections.” “The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority; this is our top priority.” “There was no compromise in any way. We have always worked well above industry safety standards and the aircraft is now back in service.”
