Manchester Airport passenger gets a shock when he sees "gaffer tape" on wing of his Boeing 787 jet

An airplane passenger suffered a fright when he looked out of the window - and saw "gaffer tape" on the wing. David Parker, 62, was on his way to Goa with his fiancée when he saw patches of the silver tape.

An experienced flyer, he was taken aback - and said he had never seen anything like it before. But Boeing, which manufactures the 787 he was flying on, clarified that the material was "speed tape" - which is perfectly safe. The tape is a temporary fix, a spokesperson said, and does not compromise the structural integrity.

David, who runs an estate agent business, said: "I was very surprised to see a patchwork of gaffer tape all over the wing halfway through the flight. Then it began peeling off mid flight, I thought what the hell!?"

"I've flown all around the world, but never seen anything like that before. I pointed it out to my missus - she just said 'I wish you hadn't shown me that'."

David and his partner were on a flight from Manchester to the Indian state of Goa on February 5.

Boeing said: “Some 787s have experienced some paint adhesion issues. We understand the importance of a pristine appearance for our products and continue to work with our customers to address this.

"A new black topcoat layer that would be applied between the composite and existing coating system is now available to 787 operators for in-service airplanes. We are also working to certify the new layer to be applied to airplanes as part of the production process.

"Our recommended interim solutions include the use of a temporary speed tape repair, or local paint restoration and touch-up, or stripping and repainting the airplane. Speed tape is an Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved material for some temporary fixes. The airplane’s structural integrity remains intact, and this has been determined to not be a safety of flight issue."