Travel

Virgin passengers’ terror after part of the wing ‘peels away’ mid-air forcing the plane to turnaround


VIRGIN Australia passengers were left terrified after part of the wing “peeled away” mid-flight.

The plane was forced to divert after the engineering issue was spotted by a traveller.

 A Virgin Australia flight was forced to go back to the airport after a piece of the wing detached

2

A Virgin Australia flight was forced to go back to the airport after a piece of the wing detachedCredit: Getty Images – Getty

Bill Mauger was on the Brisbane to Melbourne flight yesterday with his wife when he looked out at the wing on the left side of the aircraft.

He told nine.com.au he saw what he thought was cardboard lodged into the wing.

He explained: “I took a bit of a closer look and it was actually part of the wing peeling away.”

Bill explained that he tried to tell crew about the “large chunk” on the wing as soon as the seatbelt sign was off.

However, he said Virgin crew simply said the “captain was dealing with it” before shutting him down.

 A passenger spotted part of the plane wing "peeling away"

2

A passenger spotted part of the plane wing “peeling away”Credit: Channel 9

An announcement was then made overheard that the plane was to divert back to Brisbane, citing a “technical difficulty”.

A Virgin Australia spokesperson said the plane landed not because of a safety issue but an engineering issue.

They told the Australian news website: “The Captain made the decision to conduct an air return so the aircraft could be inspected by our engineers as a precautionary measure.”

Bill added that his wife was a nervous flyer made worse by the incident but praised Virgin for their organisation, adding that they were put on another flight to Melbourne just ten minutes after landing.

Last year, terrified passengers were “crying the whole way back” to the airport after the plane wing was damaged by a foreign object during the flight.

We’ve explained why plane wings turn up at the end, with the “winglets” helping keep the plane flying.

Sun Online Travel contacted Virgin Australia for comment.





READ SOURCE

Leave a Reply

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.