British Airways and Virgin Atlantic planes collide at Heathrow Airport

An investigation has been launched after two passenger planes collided while one of the aircraft was being towed at Heathrow Airport. Footage posted on social media shows a Virgin Atlantic plane’s wing touching a British Airways aircraft, surrounded by emergency services. The Virgin Boeing 787-9 plane had completed a flight and was being towed to a different part of the airfield with no passengers on board at the time of the incident, it is understood. Virgin said it has launched an investigation into the collision.

The aircraft has been taken out of service and engineering teams are performing maintenance checks on it, the airline added. 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. 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. The tow movement was provided by a ground handling company under contract by Virgin Atlantic. Heathrow Airport and British Airways have been approached to comment.