757 Fuel Flap
A question for flight crew:
I was a passenger on a 757 about to take off from one of the Greek Islands a couple of weeks back. We had taxied to the end of the runway ready for take off. Strangely the flaps were then retracted and the Captain came over the pa to say that one of the cabin crew had noticed that the fuel filler flap on the right hand wing had popped open. We were returning to the terminal to get this closed. 10 mins later we were taxiing back down for take off. The Captain announced that this had been a "good call" by the crew member as had we got airborne this would have damaged the aircraft.
My question is this: how much damage would this realistically have caused? Would it simply have torn the flap off its hinges or worse could this have potentially caused a crash?
I'd be interested in your thoughts.