Loosing screws during flight
 

On my recent trip between GRU and COR I was sitting on a A seat with direct view of the wing. I saw as we taxed out of GRU that some screws were missing on a metalplate covering the engine, just in front of the wing , 737-300. During flight I noticed that one more was missing. On the row there were around 8 screws of wich 4 now were missing, on the same frontrow. Suddenly my girlfriend saw that one more was coming up, just few minutes before landing. I took a photo of it. After landing at Ascuncion the screw now was gone. When passengers had disembarked I asked to talk with the captain. I showed him the photos and of course he was very calm. Unsuccesfull on entering the wing the captain came back and I showed him the area. Nothing really happened after that so i asked what he should do about it. Nothing appearantly. So I said if they shouldnt make sure that not more screws were falling of during our last leg. So after some minutes a man came out on the wing and started titghtening the screws we had left. in my opinion the screws were not mandatory for the flight but since we are talking about screws very close to the engines opening I was a bit concerned. Also because we had hit som turbulence and it was supposed to get worse. Next this is that all screws were falling out of the front row of the plate (apx 40*20cm) and with the air coming towards at 800kph it could cause us some trouble.

My question, should I do something with my photos? Perhaps blackbailing the ompany :-)

I'm relocating this to TravelBuzz as I think the poster is looking more for discussion on the topic than simply sharing the anecdote. Sounds like it was an interesting flight to say the least!

Thanks
Sean (B747-437B)
Moderator
Trip Reports

Reminds me of a similar situation I encountered on the now thankfully defunct Jet America Airways. I was flying in a window seat over the wing of a flight from LGB/ORD. I happened to notice fuel....and what looked like a substantial amount....spewing out of the wing around the rivets. After watching for awhile, I thought I'd notify the FA. She didn't even look and said it must be "condensation". I assured her it wasn't and that it was continous.
About ten minutes later, the cockpit door opens and down the aisle saunters the First Officer, nodding to the pax and talking to a few as he makes his way to my row.
He said " Are you the one who reported the fuel leak?" When I said I was, he asked me to get up so he could look out the window. And he said " I guess you're right! I checked the fuel gauges before coming back here and we are right where we should be fuel-wise. Tell you what, pls keep an eye on the wing and have the FA notify me if it gets any worse". :eek: :eek:
So for the rest of the 3 1/2 hour flight, my eyes were glued to the wing....:(

I think you should send the pictures to Varig HQ and ask why not more was done to the plane bla bla bla. Write that you are an experienced but concerned flyer and be sure to point out your *G-status.
If they don't care or at least send you "thank you for your concern, we try to make our flights as safe as possible..." then you can I am sure sell the pcitures to the press! "Wing came apart inflight!".

Have a nice trip!

You may also wish to contact the Civil Aviation Authority (or equivalent) of the country in which that airline is registered and/or mention such an intention in your letter to the airline.

For Brazil, it would be Departamento de Aviação Civil [http://www.dac.gov.br]

Yes, definitely report this to the FAA-equivalent agency.