Effectively right here’s one thing that you simply don’t see every single day, which makes for a very good image, however might be much less enjoyable to scrub up. 😉
Spirit upkeep facility hearth suppression system snafu
Spirit Airways has certainly one of its main upkeep services at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW). The $32 million facility was accomplished in 2017, and covers an space of round 126,000 sq. toes. As you’d count on, these services have every kind of security options, together with a hearth suppression system.
Effectively, at round 5PM on July 4, 2025, there was a storm in Detroit, and it’s believed that lightning close to the ability could have unintentionally triggered the fireplace suppression system, inflicting foam to not solely fill the hangar, but in addition the world round it.
The visuals of this incident are form of wild, as you’ll be able to seen within the beneath video, taken from a airplane that took off from the airport that day.
Now, you would possibly suppose that that is innocent, because it nearly appears like an airplane bubble bathtub. Nonetheless, this foam poses an actual threat to planes, as a result of the froth’s chemical composition is corrosive, and may harm plane techniques, together with engines, electronics, and even cabin interiors.
So planes have needed to be taken out of service resulting from this incident, although the service’s schedule isn’t impacted. I can’t assist however be curious how lengthy this cleanup effort will take.
What Spirit Airways says in regards to the incident
Spirit Airways has issued the next assertion relating to this incident:
On July 4, the fireplace suppression system at our Detroit (DTW) upkeep facility was inadvertently activated, which we consider was brought on by lightning close by. There was no hearth, and no accidents have been reported. Two plane parked inside the ability and one plane parked outdoors the ability have been faraway from service for inspection by our upkeep workforce. We’ve engaged a contractor to help with cleanup efforts, and we thank first responders for his or her fast response and help. There is no such thing as a affect to our flight operations.
Backside line
A Spirit Airways hangar was stuffed with foam on July 4, as the fireplace suppression system unintentionally went off. It’s believed that this occurred resulting from lightning close to the ability. This foam may be corrosive, so planes must be inspected previous to returning to service. Good factor they’re already within the upkeep facility, I suppose.
This isn’t the primary time that we’ve seen one thing like this, although it’s fairly uncommon…
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