Heathrow collision sliced off a section of wing like 'a knife through butter'

This picture shows the scene at Heathrow after a Sri Lankan Airlines A340 Airbus sliced through the wing of a Singapore-bound British Airways 747 as both waited to take off.

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Wreckage: Part of one of the wing tips lies on the runway

Panic broke out on board the planes, which together were carrying more than 600 passengers and crew.

Danish journalist Annasofie Flamand, on the A340, captured Monday night's drama on her camera.

She said: "We turned our wing, almost hit what looked like the tail end of the BA flight, and we ended up chopping off a bit of wing. It cut through it like butter.

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"It's incredible to see something like that in a place like Heathrow."

No one was injured but the passengers had to spend the night at hotels without their luggage.

Yesterday BA described the incident as a "minor collision" and said air traffic controllers had begun an inquiry.

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Emergency: Police rushed to the scene

However, pilots' leaders expressed concern, pointing out that one of the worst accidents in aviation history happened when two taxiing aircraft collided in Tenerife in 1977.

Critics say that Heathrow, the world's busiest international airport, is already bursting at the seams.

Monday's incident comes three months after two BA planes "clipped" each other on the tarmac.