Probably the most misunderstood thing in all of aviation is speed tape. Passengers see what looks like ‘duct tape’ on their plane, and they worry whether it will hold together. The plane doesn’t look safe and first impressions over safety matter right now with aviation safety top of mind given the issues we’ve seen with the Boeing 737 MAX 9 door plug, air traffic control mishaps, and pilot error over the past couple of years.
Photos like this one represent nervous passengers, and airlines making a poor impression, even though safety hasn’t been compromised. For 100 years aviation safety has been both a practice of continuous improvement, driving down risk, and of managing perceptions.
So @AmericanAir took this plane out of service last night for maintenance in CLT and canceled the flight to RSW after waiting almost 6 hours. They rebooked many to TPA this morning (as close as we could get) and then flew us on the exact same plane anyways!!! INSANE pic.twitter.com/moLPRdUrqm
— Joe (@AggieJoe123) June 30, 2025
Bruh… @AmericanAir pic.twitter.com/5hDhyRUhzk
— Political Cow (@PoliticalCow) June 30, 2025
These sorts of images scare passengers, but this isn’t duct tape. It is actually aluminum pressure-sensitive tape that can stick to an aircraft’s fuselage or wing at high speeds.
It is used in aviation for minor, temporary repairs on aircraft. It has high resistance to weather conditions and extreme temperatures. And its use is strictly regulated. In general, it is for temporary fixes until a more permanent repair can be made, often within a few days.
The location and nature of the damage on an aircraft determines whether use of speed tape is appropriate, consistent with FAA guidelines and the aircraft manufacturer’s structural repair manual. Speed tape is not indicated where it could potentially affect the structural integrity of the aircraft (or cause an aerodynamic issue).
So you’ll generally see it used for minor, non-structural damage such as covering minor dents or scratches that don’t affect structural integrity and securing loose objects such as a panel until they can be properly fixed.
There’s nothing wrong with a plane here, in the sense that it’s perfectly airworthy. But every time passengers see something like this they’re shaken, and they worry about how well managed and maintained the airline they’re flying is.
Here’s one that looks pretty bad on the ground in Albuquerque prior to boarding. The forward fuselage is the part of the aircraft’s body where the cockpit is located. It’s the plane’s “first impression” – and this one doesn’t make a very good one.
Pressure-sensitive tape dates to the 1840s, though of course the tape used later at the dawn of aviation (masking tape) wouldn’t be used on an aircraft. Duct tape was developed during World War Two. Technology has continued to evolve, but popular understanding of it – in aviation and beyond – often lags. It wouldn’t hurt for airline employees themselves to be better educated, so that they could proactively explain it to customers.
That’s the good stuff. Ain’t cheap either.
Because why draw attention to something that doesn’t need to be drawn to? If someone has a concern, maybe they….. ASK?
And let’s not talk about “Nuclear Grade” duct tape. Which is also a thing. And also ain’t cheap.
Terrified? Really?
The only passengers who are scared of that tape are the same people who wear a mask when they’re alone in a car.
Everybody else is either amused by it or oblivious to it.
Typical of the airlines, they take the position that passengers are children, explaining nothing about how things operate. Now granted anyone can look up this information, and perhaps people are getting more proactive these days (such as in their medical treatment and its costs). But still, in a gross situation like the one in the picture it seems that some effort should be made to reassure them, perhaps even with a little humor. Surgeons have found that talking with patients one on one before operations relaxes them and leads to a lower likelihood of lawsuits (“the doctor is a person like me, and they are doing their best”), perhaps there would be a lot less stress and incidents on aircraft if passengers were similarly recognized as people who may have concerns about flying.
@Denver Refugee — A bit northeast of Denver, if you’ve ever taken the long, mostly boring drive on I-90, there’s the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site Visitor Center, near Wall, South Dakota. Personally, I’d say skip Wall Drug and the Corn Palace (tourist traps), and check out that place (and the Badlands). Of course, a little further west is Mt. Rushmore (and Crazy Horse, if they ever finish it, and Deadwood, and in Wyoming, the Devil’s Tower). I hear they may add a fifth President on there soon enough, sheesh! Ah, a good ole American road trip!
The history of duct tape is wrong. It was originally called duck tape as it was made with cotton duck, a type of cloth similar to cotton canvass but with a tighter weave. Per Wikipedia the name duck tape first appeared in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1899. Masking tape was invented in 1923 per Wikipedia, so somewhat after the dawn of aviation. A type of duck tape using cotton duck and being able to be torn by hand was developed in World War II and later variations became called duct tape after being used on ducts. Duct tape first appeared in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1965 but the usage as such started in the 1950s.
Speed tape is some nasty $hit to work with. Used regularly on military aircraft when you have a broken nut plate under a panel. Sucks trying to get it off!
Only $17,000 for a 24 pack if anyone wants to play with some at home.
@1990 — I did that Dakotas road trip a couple months ago! One of my favorite trips. Big highlight was the traffic vs the East Coast — I-90 out there is a driver’s true freedom
@jns — Very interesting TIL thanks for the education and trivia