Virgin Atlantic said it has launched an investigation after one of its planes hit a stationary British Airways aircraft while being towed at Heathrow Airport.
Footage posted on social media shows the wing of a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 touching a British Airways plane, with emergency vehicles surrounding the two aircraft.
The Virgin plane had completed its flight and there were no passengers on board at the time of the incident. The plane was being towed to a different part of the airfield, by a ground handling company under contract by Virgin Atlantic, when it collided with the British Airways plane, it is understood.
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Virgin confirmed that it has launched an investigation into the collision and engineering teams are performing maintenance checks on the plane involved. British Airways said the other aircraft involved is also being assessed by engineering teams.
A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said: "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."
The airline added: "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 understood Virgin Atlantic's flying programme has not been disrupted by the incident.
A spokesperson for British Airways said: "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 said: "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."
