A video is making the rounds of a Spirit Airlines employee using tape on a wing before a flight is about to takeoff.  Here is TikToker @MyHoneySmacks commenting while filming the repairs.   Speed tape is commonly used for temporary repairs on airplanes and racecars

It’s shot from inside the plane and shows a guy putting a bunch of tape on one of the engines.  The woman filming it says she’s never flying Spirit again.  So are they really using duct tape to fix planes?  The answer is no.  But they are using tape . . . and it’s actually a common thing ALL airlines do.   It’s called speed tape, and it’s made of heavy-duty aluminum.  The FAA says, it’s used for, quote, “temporary, minor repairs to nonstructural aircraft components.”   A spokesman for Spirit said they confirmed with engineers that it was speed tape.  And an aviation expert told the “Associated Press” that it’s commonly used to “temporarily seal a gap.”  So it’s not a big deal.  It’s also used on race cars.   It turns out the video isn’t actually new, by the way.  It was shot at Newark Liberty airport in New Jersey in 2021.