Wing excitement: Was the plane patched with duct tape?
Created: 06/10/2022, 15:00
By: Franziska Kaindl
A photo of an airplane wing that appears to have been patched with simple duct tape is doing the rounds online.
Has a security risk been discovered here?
Flying is always an exciting thing - but sometimes it can also get downright queasy: For example, when you see the condition the plane is in.
This is what happened to Australian opera singer David Wakeham when he saw the "patched up" wings of a Qantas airliner that he was flying.
"When you choose your favorite airline, choose wisely," he captioned a photo he took of a wing and shared on social media.
There it quickly made the rounds and raised the question of a security risk.
Adhesive tape on aircraft wing - expert gives the all-clear
Passengers who spot tape on airplane wings usually don't need to worry, as John Nance, a veteran pilot and safety adviser, says according to the
Washington Post
: "A piece of ordinary tape will never be used on an airplane." The adhesive strips visible in the photo are in all probability a so-called speed tape.
This has been specially developed for aviation and is significantly stronger than standard tape because it is made of aluminium.
It is, according to Nance, "very, very specifically designed to do what they want it to do." According to him, a speed tape can withstand wind speeds of up to 600 miles per hour (about 966 km/h) and extreme environmental changes.
According to Nance, however, the speed tape is only used in the event of superficial defects: “The adhesive tape is mainly used when a part is exposed to the wind due to weather conditions.
The plane is safe to fly, but the airline wants to prevent further weathering until they can fix the part."
However, it would never be used to repair major damage to the aircraft.
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Tape on the plane: Speed tape is only used for "cosmetic issues".
A fact-check by
ABC News
on the subject revealed that paintwork damage can occur on certain Boeing 787 models due to exposure to UV rays.
The manufacturer pointed this out to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in a document in 2020.
A spokesman told the portal
Simple Flying
that the peeling paint is a "purely cosmetic problem".
It does not affect "the structural integrity of the wing and has no impact on flight safety".
According to the report, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is also aware of the paint chipping.
However, no action will be taken against the manufacturer as there is "no evidence that the deterioration of the paintwork and protection affects the structure of the aircraft or poses any other risk".