Passengers left 'panicking' after spotting major issue with plane before takeoff
British holidaymaker Phil Hardy was buckled into his aeroplane seat alongside wife Magdalena Bobusia last week, ready to jet-off to New York when disaster unexpectedly struck.
This being 41-year-old Phil's first trip overseas in over 14 years, it's no surprise that he was over the moon at the prospect of an eight hour journey to the 'city that never sleeps'.
The couple had made it through the security queue, scrambled through the bustling airport to their gate and were ready to take off.
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It was at this moment, however - in the midst of the Virgin Atlantic safety briefing - that Phil looked out of the window and spotted something wrong with the wing.
Phil, from Hull, East Yorkshire, recalled: "I noticed the four screws missing. I could see all the fixings on the wing and they were all white and I could see the crossheads on the screws and then there were just four that were black."
After alerting staff, an engineer was called on board to investigate the apparent fault before conducting some maintenance checks on the aircraft.
Apparently, however, both Virgin Atlantic staff and the engineer repeatedly attempted to assure him that there wasn't an issue with the plane.
"It was frustrating because I knew they [the screws] were missing and I felt a bit fobbed off and like they [Virgin Atlantic] were trying to downplay the issue," Phil added.
"[Recently another flight lost their door mid-flight because of faulty screws and] this was definitely at the forefront of my mind and I've watched enough crash investigations to know it doesn't take a lot to bring down a plane and I started to get a bit more worried."
During this point, he also recalled his partner Magdalena, 46, beginning to panic at the thought of flying in a faulty plane.
"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," Phil explained.
It was then that Phil began taking photos and videos of the engineers working on the plane.
"After taking a photo you could see the holes through to the top layer in the wing. I thought it was best to mention it to a flight attendant to be on the safe side," he recalled.
Phil also claims to have witnessed the engineer mouthing to another worker that the screws were missing.
And within a matter of minutes, the VS127 flight from Manchester to JFK was cancelled, with passengers only being alerted of the change of plan via email.
"There were no Virgin Atlantic staff around [at the airport] to tell us what to do and we had to queue for over an hour to see the one member of staff available," Phil claimed.
Luckily for the couple, they were placed on another flight to the 'Big Apple' the following morning - and upgraded to Premium Economy - despite losing out on two days of their trip.
But Phil struggled to get the image of a faulty plane out of his mind.
"[On this flight] the thought of the screws was at the forefront of my mind but because it was pitch black on the flight, I couldn't see anything, which was probably for the best," he continued.
The couple also claim not to have yet heard anything from Virgin Atlantic.
"This experience hasn't put me off flying altogether but it has left a sour taste in my mouth," Phil said.
But a spokesperson for the airline has since claimed the flight was 'cancelled to provide time for precautionary additional engineering maintenance checks'.
They told Tyla: "The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority and this was not compromised at any point. We always work well above industry safety standards and the aircraft is now back in service.
"We'd like to apologise to our customers for the delay to their journeys."
Rhianna Benson