Air Force Accidentally Fills Entire Hangar with Foam

**bigross86** · 15 May 12,, 19:43

Foam party! Hangar fire suppression system submerges F-15, F-16 and A-10 in foam at Eglin Air Force Base

Foam party! Hangar fire suppression system submerges F-15, F-16 and A-10 in foam at Eglin Air Force Base May 14, 2012
Posted by David Cenciotti in Military Aviation.

According to “youmustvotenato”, the user who posted it to Reddit, the following picture was taken after the fire suppression system base went off because of a spark from a welder set.

Clearly visible in the image an F-15 belonging to the 85th TES (Test and Evaluation Squadron), an F-16 of the 40 FLTS (Flight Test Squadron), and an A-10 (most probably belonging too to the 46th Test Wing): based on the the tail codes, the hangar must have been one used by the 46th TW at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.

Image credit: via youmustvotenato / Reddit

The foam generators suspended from the ceiling released suppressant similar to soap that submerged the planes in the hangar. It takes two minutes to fill a 90,000 square-foot hangar with more than three feet of two percent high-expansion biodegradable foam.

Here’s a video showing how fire suppression systems work.

**YellowFever** · 15 May 12,, 20:25

FOAM PARTY!!!!!!

Seriously, how much (if any) damage will this do to the planes?

**kato** · 15 May 12,, 20:56

Random note: Germany actually introduced foam as a possible barrier to enemy movement in the cold war - tunnels would have been closed off at both sides and filled with it, making passage impossible for humans and vehicles due to lack of oxygen.

I would suspect there isn't that much damage to it. Unless any engines were running. Those would be screwed.