Two planes collide at Heathrow Airport while aircraft being towed

Sign as much as Simon Calder’s free journey electronic mail for professional recommendation and money-saving reductions

Get Simon Calder’s Travel electronic mail

An investigation has been launched after two passenger planes collided while one of many aircraft was being towed at Heathrow Airport.

Footage posted on social media exhibits a Virgin Atlantic aircraft’s wing touching a British Airways aircraft, surrounded by emergency providers.

The Virgin Boeing 787-9 aircraft had accomplished a flight and was being towed to a special a part of the airfield with no passengers on board at the time of the incident, it’s understood.

Virgin stated it has launched an investigation into the collision.

The aircraft has been taken out of service and engineering groups are performing upkeep checks on it, the airline added.

The British Airways (BA) aircraft was stationary at the time of the incident and is being assessed by engineering groups, the corporate stated.

BA stated it has supplied another aircraft to “limit the impact on our customers”.

A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson stated: “We are aware that the wingtip of one of our empty aircraft came into contact with another aircraft whilst being towed from the stand at London Heathrow Terminal 3.

“The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority.

“We can confirm no customers were on board the Virgin Atlantic aircraft during this time.

“We’ve commenced a full and thorough investigation and our engineering teams are performing maintenance checks on the aircraft, which for now has been taken out of service.”

It is known Virgin Atlantic’s flying programme has not been disrupted by the incident.

The tow motion was supplied by a floor dealing with firm underneath contract by Virgin Atlantic.

A spokesperson for British Airways stated: “One of our aircraft, whilst stationary at Heathrow earlier today, was involved in a collision with another airline’s jet, which was being towed from a stand at the time.

“Our aircraft is being assessed by our engineering teams and we have provided an alternative aircraft to limit the impact on our customers.”

A Heathrow spokesperson stated: “We are working alongside emergency services and our airline partners in response to an incident involving two aircraft on the ground earlier today.

“At present, no passenger injuries have been reported and we do not anticipate there to be any ongoing impact to airport operations.”