“I’m a good flyer, but my partner was not loving the information I was telling her and starting to panic,” British traveler Phil Hardy said of the moment he spotted the missing fi…

A New York-bound Virgin Atlantic flight was canceled just moments before takeoff last week when an alarmed passenger said he spotted several screws missing from the plane’s wing.

  • lingh0e
    15·
    9 months ago

    By all means, if you are concerned about something on the plane, please mention it to a member of the flight crew.

    That said, you’ve used a poor analogy.

    There’s a difference between understanding the significance of a rat in a restaurant and understanding the significance of some bolts missing from a piece of fuselage… which is the point of the comment you’re glibly replying to.

    Most people understand the concept of rats being harbingers of illness, but most people don’t understand the finer mechanics of powered flight. We put our trust in the flight crew to have that greater understanding, that they won’t put our OR their lives in danger by cutting corners. Chances are good that if the flight crew isn’t concerned, you don’t need to be either.

    • Evia@lemmy.world
      4·
      9 months ago

      No but we do know the basic function of screws: holding shit together. The absence of screws implies that shit is not held together fully. Is it still sufficient to fly? Maybe. But the presence of screw holes implies that somebody in the development process thought them necessary and now they’re not there.

      Sure, it’s likely safe in the same was that the restaurant rat is likely not carrying a plague. But it’s not guaranteed and I’m not willing to be the one to test it

    • rusticus@lemm.ee
      3·
      9 months ago

      They why did they ground the plane if they weren’t concerned? And then replace the bolts that you claim aren’t necessary? Are they cosmetic bolts? lol.

      • lingh0e
        11·
        9 months ago

        I didn’t say anything about that plane, and I didn’t say anything about bolts being unnecessary. I was simply responding to the other guys bad analogy because he kept demanding someone answer his question.

    • gamermanh@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      11·
      9 months ago

      but most people don’t understand the finer mechanics of powered flight.

      Pretty sure “are all the bolts in their holes” is more of an “I can put IKEA furniture together pretty well” level and not “finer details of the mechanics of flight” level