Flight heading to JFK from England canceled due to missing fasteners in wing
NEW YORK (WABC) -- A Virgin Atlantic flight from Manchester, England, to JFK Airport in New York City was canceled last week after four fasteners were found missing from a panel on the wing.
The flight was operating on an Airbus A330 on Jan. 15.
According to Virgin Atlantic, the inspection of the panel on the wing showed that the tops of four fasteners were missing. Each panel has 119 fasteners.
Virgin Atlantic said "there was no impact to the structural integrity of the wing or the ability of the Airbus A330-300 to operate safely."
In a statement, Airbus Local Chief Wing Engineer for A330 Neil Firth said the panel was a "secondary structure panel, used to improve the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft," and that there was "no impact to the structural integrity or load capability of the wing, and the aircraft was safe to operate."
Virgin Atlantic said that flight VS127 was canceled to "provide time for precautionary additional engineering maintenance checks, which allowed our team the maximum time to complete their inspections."
The fasteners were replaced during the additional maintenance check.
The Manchester Evening News reported that it was a passenger who spotted the four missing fasteners and informed the crew.
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