The inaugural Virgin Atlantic flight from Manchester, UK, to Atlanta, Georgia, did not go as planned after a celebratory water cannon salute went awry.
The Airbus A330 had just arrived in Manchester when, instead of spraying the outside of the plane with water, cannons covered the jet in a thick foam. The plane's scheduled return trip to Georgia was delayed because the jet had to be cleaned.
Virgin Atlantic Flight 109 was supposed to depart from Manchester at 10:35 a.m. on Monday.
Major fail as @manairport Fire Service provide cannon salute to VS109/A330 using foam. Flight then cancelled. Oops! pic.twitter.com/UZp9KEj7M3— Peter Evans (@trustaviation) March 30, 2015
A water salute is something of an aviation tradition, meant to mark special occasions such as this inaugural flight.
Passengers tweeted about the mishap, expressing their anger and frustration first with the foam situation and later with the repeated delays. An initial delay of a few hours became an overnight stay in Manchester, according to passengers on Twitter.
So the @VirginAtlantic plane got sprayed by foam instead of water, now delayed by 3 hours, nice job...— stuartrood (@stuartrood) March 30, 2015
The airline offered overnight accommodations at a hotel and meals for the delayed passengers.
Love it even more when they keep delaying us by 30 minutes every effing 30 minutes. Proper helpful— Beth Harper (@bharperx) March 30, 2015
Well done to the prick who sprayed virgin's first flight from Manchester to Atlanta with foam rather than a water salute delaying us 24hrs — Beth Harper (@bharperx) March 30, 2015
Should be sat in orlando. Instead sat in a hotel room in manchester! @VirginAtlantic #sackedinthemorning— Lord Bradley (@joelb18) March 30, 2015
"Unfortunately the VS109 from Manchester to Atlanta on 30th March has been delayed overnight," a spokesperson for the airline told Mashable. "We would like to thank customers for their patience and look forward to welcoming them back on board."