Inaugural Virgin Atlantic Flight To Atlanta Canceled After Botched Water Cannon Salute

Instead of water, firefighters accidentally sprayed the aircraft with fire-suppressing foam, which got into and clogged up the vital and sensitive jet engines and hi-tech turbine blades.

Source Daily Mail

March 31, 2015

Instead of water, firefighters accidentally sprayed the aircraft with fire-suppressing foam, which got into and clogged up the vital and sensitive jet engines and hi-tech turbine blades.

A Virgin Atlantic passenger jet was grounded after a botched ‘water cannon salute’ by airport fire tenders clogged up its engines by spraying thick foam instead of water.

The water canon salute is the sort of flamboyant gesture for which Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic airline has become famous – and also marks something of a wider aviation tradition.

More details here.