A passenger on a flight from Manchester to New York on January 15, just before take-off, noticed something that worried him. Four screws were missing from the wing panel. He passed the information on to the crew. The flight was canceled to allow engineers to deal with the matter –
They canceled the flight because a passenger noticed that the screws were missing
The flight was to take place with an A330. The manufacturer of the machine assured that the lack of screws had no impact on the safety of the aircraft, a statement echoed by Virgin Airlines. An Airbus spokesman assured that the part missing screws was a secondary element of the plane that only improved its aerodynamics. As he further explained, each wing panel has 119 screws, so the absence of four of them “does not affect the integrity of the structure or the load-bearing capacity of the wing, the machine was safe to use.” Despite this, the flight was canceled as a precaution to give engineers time to conduct additional tests. Passengers were directed to alternative routes.
A Virgin Atlantic spokesman said that “passenger safety is always the highest priority and this has not been compromised at any time.” He added: “We always work above industry standards. The plane is now back in service. We would like to apologize to our customers for the delay in travel.”
The black series of the aviation industry
The last few weeks have not been the best for the aviation industry. In early January, the US Federal Aviation Administration ordered the grounding of some 737 Max 9 aircraft. The plane with 177 passengers and crew landed safely in Portland. The causes of the failure are unknown.
Alaska Airlines has decided to temporarily withdraw all 65 of its aircraft of this type. United Airlines, whose fleet includes 79 jets of this type, did the same. Boeing 737s are also in the fleet of LOT Polish Airlines. However, these are machines of a different version – Max 8.
Virgin Atlantic itself also had a problem and at the beginning of January a plane from this airline had to make an emergency landing after smoke appeared in the cockpit. In turn, the Japanese airline All Nippon Airways, also in January, decided to
Source: Gazeta
Mabel is a talented author and journalist with a passion for all things technology. As an experienced writer for the 247 News Agency, she has established a reputation for her in-depth reporting and expert analysis on the latest developments in the tech industry.
