The footage was shared on Facebook by Mauro Pili, former President of the Sardinia region, after he boarded an ITA Airways flight from Cagliari to Rome.
“I have never seen a plane patched with tape like this,” Pili wrote. The image shows silver tape covering an area of the plane’s fuselage.
"This morning, at 7:20, departing from Cagliari to Rome, no one noticed anything due to boarding through the tunnel," Pili wrote, claiming that it was only upon arrival in Rome that passengers realized they had been on a "patched-up" plane.
Tape on the fuselage of ITA Airways
The video has attracted hundreds of comments from users, some horrified, others saying the method is widely used as a temporary and safe fix. "Is it really safe? The tape is about to come off," Pili replied.
One commenter stressed that passengers always expect "maximum security" when paying for a flight. He also affirmed that "I am 99% sure that if passengers see the sticker, they will not board the plane".
In response to the controversy, ITA Airways stated that the airline "always operates in compliance with safety standards set by the competent authorities and fully respects the passengers and crew on board".
The airline said the repairs were necessary to “temporarily resolve” the damage found. “This action was carried out in accordance with the manufacturer’s approved instructions, specifically aviation-specific metal ‘tape’,” the airline told Wanted in Rome .
In fact, such patches on aircraft are not uncommon.
Several concerned passengers have posted photos on social media of taped planes in recent years. Last year, a traveler in Australia posted a photo of the wing of a Qantas Boeing 787 covered in tape, according to the Sydney Morning Herald .
Although it looks like the tape on an airplane wing, it's actually an aluminum-based material known in the aviation industry as "high-speed tape" and is perfectly safe for certain types of repairs, according to aviation experts and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Qantas Airplane Wing Tape
"There's no way a regular piece of duct tape would ever be used on an airplane," said John Nance, a veteran pilot and safety consultant. "So if you see it, don't worry too much because it's specifically designed for airplanes."
According to Nance, the tape is extremely durable, able to withstand winds of up to 600 miles per hour and extreme environmental changes when applied properly. The tape is not intended to hold two separate parts together, but rather to prevent further delamination that could occur on the plane.
However, Nance added that airlines “should not use more tape than necessary,” especially in places where passengers can see it.
In 2002, the Federal Aviation Administration fined United Airlines $805,000 for operating 193 flights with improper tape.
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