PICTURE: Alaska apologises for MX message on 737

Alaska Airlines says on Twitter this perhaps unfortunate maintenance message, which went viral on reddit this week, was "inappropriate", and, more ominously, "we have followed up w/ the team". (Uh-oh.)

But there may have been good reasons why the maintenance team wrote a message that some passengers clearly interpreted as unintentionally funny and/or scary.

In the reddit discussion forum, where the picture was originally posted, a self-identified Delta Air Lines employee, says such a message does wonders to reduce paperwork. "Marking apparent damage prevents reports from being filed at each station at which the aircraft arrives," he says.

Passengers sitting over the wing, of course, have no way of knowing that.