‘Part of the wing was peeling away’: Virgin Australia passenger tells of horror after watching part of wing panel come loose prompting aircraft to make an emergency landing

By Daily Mail Australia Reporter

Published: 02:07 GMT, 20 January 2020 | Updated: 02:19 GMT, 20 January 2020

A Virgin Australia flight was forced to land after a wing panel came loose and started flapping in the wind. 

The flight from Brisbane to Melbourne was forced to turn back on Sunday evening after crew and passengers spotted the alarming problem.

The flight took off just before 6pm but a Virgin Australia spokesman said the plane had turned back due to an ‘engineering issue’. 

A Virgin Australia flight was forced to land after a wing panel came loose and started flapping in the wind

A Virgin Australia flight was forced to land after a wing panel came loose and started flapping in the wind

Bill Mauger was on the flight with his wife and told Nine News he realised something was wrong as soon as the flight took off. 

‘As we were starting to get some altitude I looked over to the wing and it looked like there was something caught in it. It looked as though there was a bit of cardboard,’ he said. 

Mr Mauger said he found it weird and quickly noticed it was a ‘part of the wing peeling away’.

‘It was quite a large chunk of wing flapping in the breeze,’ he said. 

More to come.  

:

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk