Well here’s something that you don’t see every day, which makes for a good picture, but is probably less fun to clean up. 😉
Spirit maintenance facility fire suppression system snafu
Spirit Airlines has one of its primary maintenance facilities at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW). The $32 million facility was completed in 2017, and covers an area of around 126,000 square feet. As you’d expect, these facilities have all kinds of safety features, including a fire suppression system.
Well, at around 5PM on July 4, 2025, there was a storm in Detroit, and it’s believed that lightning near the facility may have accidentally triggered the fire suppression system, causing foam to not only fill the hangar, but also the area around it.
The visuals of this incident are kind of wild, as you can seen in the below video, taken from a plane that took off from the airport that day.
Now, you might think that this is harmless, as it almost looks like an airplane bubble bath. However, this foam poses a real risk to planes, because the foam’s chemical composition is corrosive, and can damage aircraft systems, including engines, electronics, and even cabin interiors…