Virgin flight from Manchester to New York cancelled moments before take off
 

Virgin flight from Manchester to New York cancelled moments before take off after passenger notices problem with bolts on wing

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/virgin-flight-manchester-new-york-28472339

It is perfectly legal to fly with the missing fasteners.

https://www.aviationhunt.com/airbus-...ing-fasteners/

From the linked article in Manchester Evening News:

"it was discovered the tops of four fasteners were missing from a panel on the wing"
and:
"The missing tops of the fasteners were later replaced" :hmm:

A quote from the article: "The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority and this was not compromised at any point." This sort of trite, fallacious nonsense trips so easily off the tongue of the automatons answering questions these days. It isn't true or sincere, and only a fool would believe it. It is merely specious 'filler', to take up space and/or fill time when questions are asked. It is enough to make you vomit. 🙄

At least it is not a Boeing., I can imagine what some journalists would have written if it had been one !

Abbey Road.... Thank you for some sensible talk.... Mention safety and security and can get away with anything !!! MJ

A330, missing fasteners, aircraft removed from schedule, fasteners replaced, and in the meanwhile, did the fare paying passengers eventually fly to New York in another hull?
I'll give the passenger a tip of the cap for a good preflight. :)

A few perhaps, but nothing there allows 4 in a row to be missing.

I can't tell that any of the panels at that link match the one in question. They all seem to be fuselage panels not the wing itself.
(or farther down pylon/vertical stab)

Horrible thread title

It would appear that a Pax looked out of the window and noticed 4 x holes with no fastener heads, possible location Port wing to fuselage fairing panel, rear spar area; this was reported to crew

Later there appears to be a video taken showing a screwdriver engineer on an access ladder who may have been taking out an adjacent fastener and attempting to insert it into one of the unoccupied holes; perhaps attempting to ascertain if there was a serviceable anchor nut below and, also possibly trying to identify the length of fastener required to fill the 4 x unoccupied holes, he/she appears to have been unsuccessful.

Be interested to know if this was a known defect awaiting a maintenance input to repair, or was an unknown defect that this aircraft had been flying around for days/weeks.

A turnaround or daily maintenance inspection is unlikely to have a engineer getting on top of each wing or looking through each window to discover this type of problem and may I suggest that in the grand scheme of things this problem as the Operated stated did not compromise safety.

Loose bolts are in the news just now, Probably wouldn't have made the news if it wasn't for the loose nuts in the MAX rudder and plug door.

Back in the early 1960;s a pipe dropped out of the bottom of DC4 outboard engine that I witnessed and the engine subsequently feathered. Even as young child of about 5, I was a window seat lover ! My Mum was next to me who I pointed this out to, who called CC ,who subsequently called F/E who wondered back and said to my Mum apparently “oh I wondered what happened”. These things happen I guess.

Cheers
Mr Mac

That could have been an exhaust stack. These sometimes crack and fall off and the subsequent stream of exhaust gas ending up on a different trajectory can trigger the overheat warning in that nacelle. Just guesswork on my side though... could have been something else as well.

I sincerely hope that wasn't the case.

BA5390.

Indeed, just take out the ones on the other side. 😁

Jhieminga
Thank you for helping to clear up a child hood memory’s, really much appreciated. I believed it felt much more unnerving at the time for some 🙂

Cheers
Mr Mac

Pax maintenance?
 

The fact that they cancelled a flight due pax observation is concerning.

If it’s worth cancelling the flight for, I hope we can agree we don’t want to rely on PAX to identify it.

The more observant the passengers the better and better still if they point it out to the crew.

Air Ontario 1363, F-28 crashed on take off in Canada due ice on wings. Dead heading Captain who observed same thought it improper to tell the operating crew how to go about their job. One passenger raised his concerns with a Flight Attendant who had her own concerns but previous interaction with tech crews prevented her expressing her concerns. 24 fatalities (21 pax 3 crew), 37 of the 45 survivors injured.

Aloha 243, a female pax boarding the aircraft noticed a crack in the fuselage skin near the entrance door, she made no mention of it in the belief that the airline knew what they were doing and that she would have been humoured and regarded with disdain if she made a fuss about it. 90 pax, 5 crew, 65 injured (8 serious), 1 fatality (FA).

The fact that they needed a pax to point it out is even more concerning.
Per

Passengers in the BMA 737 which crashed on the M1 at East Midlands knew correctly which side engine had blown but weren't asked........
That Airbus manual on 'allowable' missing fasteners is very worrying ( was it written by a lawyer?)or am I being naive ...don't they use self locking screws oe even some Loctite?!!