A flight headed for New York from Manchester, UK was grounded just moments before it was set to take off after passengers noticed screws missing from the plane's wing, according to US media.
On Virgin Atlantic's January 15 flight to New York, a British passenger on flight VS127 departing from Manchester looked out his window and noticed some missing pieces.
After noticing four missing fasteners during a safety briefing, passenger Phil Hardy, 41, decided to alert staff.
“I’m a good flyer, but my partner was not loving the information I was telling her and starting to panic, and I was trying to put her mind at rest as much as I could,” Hardy told UK media.
“I thought it was best to mention it to a flight attendant to be on the safe side.”
Engineers called to the scene
His discovery prompted an immediate response from airport engineers, who were seen shortly after with a screwdriver on the side of the wing. Engineers were called to carry out maintenance checks on the Airbus A330 aircraft prior to the intended departure, a Virgin Atlantic representative told US media.