Heathrow emergency as passenger planes crash on airport runway as police and fire crew rush to scene

06 April 2024 , 13:45

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Heathrow emergency as passenger planes crash on airport runway as police and fire crew rush to scene

Witnesses at London Heathrow Airport said a tug was pushing back a Virgin Atlantic plane when its wing collided with the tail of a nearby British Airways aircraft

Two passenger planes have collided on the runway at Heathrow Airport.

A tug was pushing back a Virgin Atlantic plane when its wing collided with the tail of a nearby British Airways aircraft, witnesses at the huge hub said. 

Photo show emergency services scrambling to the scene of the prang on the Heathrow taxiway at Terminal 3 of the west London airport. No one was on board the Virgin Atlantic plane, understood to be a Boeing787-9, at the time of impact, the airline said.

A spokesman for Virgin Atlantic said: "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."

Just witnessed a plane crash at Heathrow! A tug pushing back a Virgin 787, crashed the wing into a BA A350 #Heathrow #BritishAirways #VirginAtlantic pic.twitter.com/9VmiP6uwQr

— Alex Whittles (@PurpleFrogAlex) April 6, 2024

The spokesman added: "We’ve commenced a full and thorough investigation. Our engineering teams are performing maintenance checks on the aircraft, which for now has been taken out of service."

The accident has not disrupted Virgin’s schedule of operations to and from the hub, the country’s busiest airport, today as the Easter holidays come to an end. Twitter user Alex Whittles said: "Just witnessed a plane crash at Heathrow. A tug pushing back a Virgin 787, crashed the wing into a BA A350." 

James Smith