Manchester Airport: Virgin Atlantic flight halted minutes before take off after passenger spots serious problem with plane's wing

A flight was forced to halt moments before it was due to take-off after a passenger spotted a serious issue with the wing on Monday 15 January. The Virgin Atlantic flight from Manchester Airport to JFK Airport in New York, USA, was stopped and engineers carried out “maintenance checks”.

A passenger had noticed the problem and informed the cabin crew on board. Specialist engineers attended and the flight was cancelled as a “precautionary measure” while relevant checks were undertaken.

The engineers inspected the aircraft after four fasteners were found missing from a panel on the wing. The Manchester Evening News reported that each of the wing panels on the Airbus A330 has 119 fasteners, and that the four tops that were missing "did not impact the structural integrity of the wing, the load capability of the wing or the ability of the aircraft to operate safely."

The panel is a secondary structure panel that is used to improve the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft. However, the long-haul transatlantic flight was still cancelled and the missing tops of the fasteners were later replaced.

The airline said the safety of customers and the crew on board is its “top priority” and that this “was not compromised at any point”. It added that it “always works well above industry safety standards” and that the aircraft is now back in service. 

Passengers on board were still flown to JFK after being placed on alternate flights. A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said: "The VS127 from Manchester to New York JFK on 15 January, operating on an Airbus A330, was cancelled to provide time for precautionary additional engineering maintenance checks, which allowed our team the maximum time to complete their inspections."

"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. We'd like to apologise to our customers for the delay to their journeys."

Airbus Local Chief Wing Engineer for A330 Neil Firth added: "Aviation safety is our number one priority. The panel in the image is a secondary structure panel, used to improve the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft. Each of these panels has 119 fasteners so there was no impact to the structural integrity or load capability of the wing, and the aircraft was safe to operate. As a precautionary measure, the aircraft underwent an additional maintenance check, and the fasteners were replaced."