NEW YORK: British traveller Phil Hardy, 41, was aboard Flight VS127 on January 15 when he noticed four missing fasteners during a passenger safety briefing.
To ensure safety, Hardy instantly informed the cabin crew.
“I’m a good flyer, but my partner wasn’t liking the information I was telling her and was beginning to panic, so I was trying to put her mind at ease as much as I could,” Hardy told Kennedy News about the moment he noticed the missing fasteners.
“I thought it was best to mention it to a flight attendant to be on the safe side.”
Despite repeated assurances from airline officials that the wing’s safety was unaffected, Hardy’s concerns intensified, especially in light of a previous incident involving an Alaska Airlines plane.
Engineers were dispatched to inspect the Airbus A330 aircraft before to its planned departure. Hardy recorded footage of an engineer using a screwdriver to replace lost bolts.
A Virgin representative noted that the flight was canceled to allow for further engineering maintenance checks, prioritizing customer and crew safety and assuring the team’s thorough inspections.
