Doofus Of The Day #827

Today's award goes to the member(s) of the firefighting team at Manchester Airport in the UK who pressed the wrong button.

A passenger jet was left stranded on the runway after firemen giving it a good luck salute accidentally sprayed it with foam instead of water.

The Virgin Atlantic flight was to have been the first service from Manchester Airport to Atlanta, Georgia, so fire crews planned to give the Airbus A330-300 a send-off with their water cannons before passengers boarded.

However, someone aboard the fire tenders, which were ready to spray a giant arch of water over the top of the passenger jet, mistakenly switched the hoses to jet out fire-suppressing foam.

It clogged up the jet engines and turbine blades. Dripping with foam, the aircraft was grounded and forced to undergo a safety check.

. . .

Passengers were being put up at hotels overnight and told to report for a replacement flight at 9.30am on Tuesday.

There's more at the link.

That's going to cost well into six figures, perhaps even seven, to strip and check all the affected parts.  Methinks the Manchester Airport Fire Department is about to get a mammoth bill . . .

Peter