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No, Kenya Airways plane is not being held together by duct tape

By Hilary Kimuyu September 12th, 2019 1 min read

Kenya Airways has explained a picture that has been shared on social media with one of their airline appearing to held together by a duct tape.

The national carrier has allayed fears among the online community, explaining that the tape on the plane, as depicted in the pictures, is professionally known as high-speed tape.

According to KQ it’s an aluminium pressure-sensitive tape used to do minor repairs on aircraft and racing cars and that it is used as a temporary repair material until a more permanent repair can be carried out.

“It has an appearance similar to duct tape, for which it is sometimes mistaken, but its adhesive is capable of sticking on an airplane fuselage or wing at high speeds, hence the name,” said KQ in a tweet.

“Rest assured that the safety of our passengers is our top priority,” KQ further explained.

Mechanics and other aircraft experts widely regard speed tape as extremely safe when used properly.

However, airlines must adhere to certain guidelines when using speed tape, lest they find themselves in trouble with regulators.

Aluminum foil tape can be applied relatively quickly, and is only used for superficial issues.

While durable, the idea is not to use speed tape as a permanent fix, rather it’s a temporary solution to keep the aircraft in service and the schedule on time until more extensive repairs can be completed and it is applied by mechanics and maintenance teams.