Did An Airline Fix A Plane w/ Duct Tape?

duct tape uses
image: @adtomwood on Twitter

I can’t say that I know anything about airplane repair or maintenance but if I was sitting on a plane waiting to take off and saw what Adam Wood did, I might be a bit alarmed…

Wood spotted a plane’s engine being fixed with what appeared to be an unlikely item. It’s something that anyone could buy a roll of for around $3 and it is pretty versatile in terms of what it could be used for.

A photo of a worker fixing the engine with a tape which looks a lot like duct tape was tweeted to @easyjet which went viral.

However, not everything seems to be what it is upon first look.

A video on MSN.com explains a bit more about what was actually going on. Reporter Jen Markham says that “the photo was shared thousands of time and made international headlines“.

Woods (@adtomwood) tweeted:” Always worrying when @easyJet are duct taping the plane together :-s #finaldestination”

@easyJet responded: “Hi Adam, Please be reassured that the duct tape is in place as a result of some cosmetic work that is required to the aircraft paintwork. It is nothing structural and in no way compromises the safety of the aircraft. ^Justine”

So the tape was used for cosmetic reasons??? Why not do this maintenance out of the passenger’s sight to not alarm anyone?

The MSN video goes on to say that the duct tape is actually “speed tape, an aluminum pressure sensitive tape that’s commonly been used on the aviation industry for years.”

Speed tape is also quite a bit pricier that duct tape. It can go for hundreds of dollars per roll!

Find out more from MSN here.

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