Jetstar engineer busts huge plane myth
An Aussie aircraft engineer has busted a big myth that has freaked out some travellers.
Jetstar wants to set the record straight – they are not using duct tape on planes.
In fact, the tape you may see stuck to the side of its aircraft, or any commercial aircraft, costs more than $200 a roll.
“I guess from a long distance away it can probably just seem like duct tape but it’s absolutely nothing like it,” Jetstar engineer Darcy Thomson told news.com.au when visiting the airline’s hanger in Melbourne this week.
He said he could assure passengers the tape is actually “nothing safety related” and is “not holding anything together” as rumours have suggested.
Mr Thomson said the tape was used for minor temporary repairs, mostly cosmetic – for example, holding down a bit of paint that was lifting, which would not warrant cancelling a flight to fix immediately.
It is an aluminum foil which is sticky on one side and “smooth and aerodynamic” on the other.
The pricey tape is designed specifically to use on aircraft and approved by Boeing, Airbus and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
Applying the tape is serious business.
If Mr Thomson finds a spot he wants to apply the tape while inspecting an aircraft, he can’t just go ahead and do it.
“You have to have an approval with instructions telling you to apply that tape exactly there and usually they’ll be daily inspections of the tape to check its integrity as well,” he explained.
After applying the tape he has to log when the tape was applied, why he did it and what specific roll of tape he used with the batch number so it can be traced back to where it was manufactured.
If the batch number or expiry stickers fall off at any point, the roll can’t be used.
As a licenced aircraft maintenance engineer, Mr Thomson’s job involves checking Jetstar aircraft at the start and end of the day as well as doing scheduled maintenance.
Every time a plane takes off during the day, the pilot will first do their own check of the aircraft and call on the engineers if required.
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