Planes collide on Heathrow runway

A six-feet long wing section of a stationary British Airways Boeing 747was sliced off when it was struck by a Sri Lankan Airlines Airbus.

Danish journalist Annasofie Flamand, 32, who was on board the Sri Lanka-bound flight, said their plane hit the BA aircraft from behind.

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

Ms Flamand, who took a picture of the damaged plane, added: "It's pretty incredible to see something like that in a place like Heathrow airport. Thank God it was on the ground and not in the air."

Student Anya Hotinski, 24, who was on the BA flight, said: "I was sitting on the left-hand side. I just felt a shudder and looked to my left and could see there was another plane very close and it had taken a chunk out of the wing."

Ms Hotinski added: "I was really looking forward to going home but now I'm stuck here. It's just very frustrating. I'm completely exhausted."

Chris Hammond, 58, said: "There was a big jerk and no one knew what it was. We're just glad no one was hurt."

More than 600 passengers and crew were stranded overnight as an investigation was launched.

The collision happened at just after 10pm last night when the BA011 flight to Singapore, carrying 328 people was waiting on the runway, followed by the Airbus A340.

Passengers on the plane said some people started running around the cabin in panic moments after the impact but they were calmed down by cabin crew who provided refreshments during the 90-minute wait.

Vet Ariadna Marczak, 33, and husband David, 31, took a picture of the moment of impact from their cabin window. "I'm just thankful it happened on the ground rather than in the air," she said.

"This was our third flight of the day so you can appreciate how we are feeling. We had a really bad day."

After waiting on board the planes, passengers were taken to two hotels near the airport as well as the Olympia Hilton and the Crowne Plaza in Wembley.

They were forced to spend the night at the hotels without their luggage which they were told had to remain on board. It was hoped they would be able to continue their journeys today on different flights.

It is understood the wingtip of the Airbus, carrying 296 passengers and crew, struck the 747.

An airport source close to the investigation said: "The 747 was parked at the time on the taxiway awaiting take-off instruction. Its brakes were fully on and the plane was not moving. The Airbus was manoeuvring, albeit slowly. Read into that what you will."

The incident is being dealt with by the Aircraft Investigation Bureau which will have to decide whether the Airbus carried out an incorrect or unauthorised manoeuvre or if the Boeing had, for some unexplained reason, stopped in the wrong place.

A spokesman for British Airways described the incident as a "minor collision", adding that no one was injured and an investigation had been launched.

Compensation will be offered to passengers who missed connecting flights or had to cancel their travel plans.

It was the second collision at Heathrow in a matter of weeks after two British Airways planes "clipped" one another on the ground in July.

A Washington DC-bound Boeing 777 backed into an Airbus A321, which had arrived from Zurich.