SriLankan/BA bent metal at LHR?
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Daily Torygraph calls them 'Air Lanka'
AS ever the DT has their finger on the pulse ........ Sri Lankan has been the official name of the airline for well over 10years....!!
Planes collide at Heathrow airport
By Sophie Borland
Last Updated: 2:42am BST 16/10/2007
Two planes collided on the runway at Heathrow airport last night whilst preparing to take-off.
The incident comes as Heathrow airport faces growing criticism for long delays
Witnesses reported seeing part of the engine of a British Airways jumbo jet aircraft, Flight BA011, falling onto the runway whist the tip of the wing of an Air Lanka flight had come away. Nobody was thought to be injured in the crash but about 20 fire engines were called to scene.
The BA jet was bound for Singapore when it crashed into the Air Lanka plane which was heading for the Maldives at about 10pm.
The cause of the incident was not known but engineers were called to the scene and were investigating both aircraft.
Passengers were reported to be very shaken and distressed but were being told by their pilots over the intercom that there was no need to panic.
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Patrick Spink, spokesman for British Airways said: "The crash happened when the BA011 flight bound for Singapore hit the Air Lanka flight shortly after 10pm.
"We are not yet sure what caused the crash but it is thought that the British Airways jet collided with the wing of the other aircraft causing the tip of it to break away.
"Obviously under the circumstances the safety of passengers is paramount and all those on board both aircraft are being moved to the terminal buildings.
"Engineers have also been called to investigate the scene and a full inquiry will be launched to determine the exact cause of this incident.
"Nobody is thought to have been injured in the crash."
A spokesman for London Fire Brigade said that there was no serious damage to the aircraft and no reports of injuries.
Each year more than 64 million passengers pass through Heathrow airport and there are about 450,000 landings and take-offs.
The incident comes as Heathrow airport faces growing criticism for long delays and chaos caused to passengers.
Last month the airport was found to have the worst delays in Europe with some passangers being forced to wait on the tarmac for up to half an hour.
During one incident the airport's northern runway was blocked for more than 90 minutes after an Royal Brunei flight made an emergency landing
Statistics from the Association of European Airlines showed that more than one flight in three left Heathrow more than 15 minutes late.
The figures showed that Heathrow's performance from April to June was about three per cent worse than the previous quarter, with delays faced by passengers at check-in and security often continuing once they are on board.
The Daily Telegraph have also revealed how the Spanish operators of the airport, BAA, had to pay more than £144,000 to airlines for poor performance
Planes collide at Heathrow airport
By Sophie Borland
Last Updated: 2:42am BST 16/10/2007
Two planes collided on the runway at Heathrow airport last night whilst preparing to take-off.
The incident comes as Heathrow airport faces growing criticism for long delays
Witnesses reported seeing part of the engine of a British Airways jumbo jet aircraft, Flight BA011, falling onto the runway whist the tip of the wing of an Air Lanka flight had come away. Nobody was thought to be injured in the crash but about 20 fire engines were called to scene.
The BA jet was bound for Singapore when it crashed into the Air Lanka plane which was heading for the Maldives at about 10pm.
The cause of the incident was not known but engineers were called to the scene and were investigating both aircraft.
Passengers were reported to be very shaken and distressed but were being told by their pilots over the intercom that there was no need to panic.
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Patrick Spink, spokesman for British Airways said: "The crash happened when the BA011 flight bound for Singapore hit the Air Lanka flight shortly after 10pm.
"We are not yet sure what caused the crash but it is thought that the British Airways jet collided with the wing of the other aircraft causing the tip of it to break away.
"Obviously under the circumstances the safety of passengers is paramount and all those on board both aircraft are being moved to the terminal buildings.
"Engineers have also been called to investigate the scene and a full inquiry will be launched to determine the exact cause of this incident.
"Nobody is thought to have been injured in the crash."
A spokesman for London Fire Brigade said that there was no serious damage to the aircraft and no reports of injuries.
Each year more than 64 million passengers pass through Heathrow airport and there are about 450,000 landings and take-offs.
The incident comes as Heathrow airport faces growing criticism for long delays and chaos caused to passengers.
Last month the airport was found to have the worst delays in Europe with some passangers being forced to wait on the tarmac for up to half an hour.
During one incident the airport's northern runway was blocked for more than 90 minutes after an Royal Brunei flight made an emergency landing
Statistics from the Association of European Airlines showed that more than one flight in three left Heathrow more than 15 minutes late.
The figures showed that Heathrow's performance from April to June was about three per cent worse than the previous quarter, with delays faced by passengers at check-in and security often continuing once they are on board.
The Daily Telegraph have also revealed how the Spanish operators of the airport, BAA, had to pay more than £144,000 to airlines for poor performance
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Interesting that most reports have the BA stationary and the Torygraph has it crashing into the other aircraft. I'm surprised the passengers weren't screaming in terror as the aircraft plunged several millimetres on impact.
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BBC Report
Passenger on the BA aircraft said they were "slowly overtaking the other aircraft and the wing-tips touched"
BBC showing the tiplet cut in half and a small bit on the taxiway.
Fire services were on the scene for all of 5 minutes
.
No one screamed in terror, fainted or crashed near a school/hospital small child!!
BBC showing the tiplet cut in half and a small bit on the taxiway.
Fire services were on the scene for all of 5 minutes
.No one screamed in terror, fainted or crashed near a school/hospital small child!!
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If its in the 27 R hold then its not surprising really....incredibly bad holding area design. Finished GMC 2 L/OP at 10 o'clock last night , very busy with T4 heavy traffic .
Red Top.
The SLF in the BBC report - a Danish journo called AnnaSofie Flamand - was on the Sri Lanka A-340. In her filmed interview, she said
airsound
The SLF in the BBC report - a Danish journo called AnnaSofie Flamand - was on the Sri Lanka A-340. In her filmed interview, she said
It looked like we were overtaking a British Airways plane..... Our wingtip just severed through [the tip of the British Airways wing] like butter.
Last edited by airsound; 16th Oct 2007 at 08:22. Reason: adding reference to filming
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BBC News: "Thank God it was on the ground and not in the air"
Hmmmm, don't think there have been too many cases of planes scraping their wings against each other in the air.
Hmmmm, don't think there have been too many cases of planes scraping their wings against each other in the air.
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Dont know what happened or how it happened - was on the other side of heathrow, it just happened as we were just to cross 27L and were told to hold - until a change of rwy took place for the traffic coming from south - that was a good 20 to 30 mins. Good to hear no one hurt. Departures continued on 27R however.
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Can you believe that at a major airport the ATIS says - "WING TIP CLEARENCE IS NOT ASSURED AT THE HOLDING AREA", only a matter of time........
Aircraft cross pollination seems to be on the up at Heathrow, good job we're not toooooo crowded at LHR
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I hang my head in sadness. To think that the Company that I was once proud to work for should continue to allow this sort of avoidable accident to still happen. There has been a drip-feed of these incidents over the years at LHR - why aren't the lessons being learned? Why LHR and not other aerodromes which handle more traffic per runway?
Heathrow's reputation is more or less rock-bottom these days.
I would seriously suggest that it's time to close the doors on the place and develop a proper 21st Century airport for London elsewhere. The fundamental problem is that the basic layout was designed in 1946 for a/c with half the current span and a quarter of the weight of present designs. The site simply isn't big enough and don't get me started on the infrastructure. The main road to the airport from the South goes over a railway bridge which was built 150 years ago for horse & cart and hasn't been widened since!
As to the loss of a wingtip on a 744, I once witnessed a BA 744 arriving at LGW with one winglet missing. It had had a tangle with another a/c at Caracas and following removal of the stub the a/c had dispatched with one winglet. Apparently it didn't make enough difference to the fuel burn to make any adjustments necessary. I expect there's a difference in MEL for an outstation departure compared with base, on the basis that another a/c would be available and that the a/c can be fixed at LHR but not CCS.
I just can't believe that the pax were held on board for 2.5 hrs, as reported. Did it really take Airfield Ops/BA that long to organise coaches???
TheOddOne
Heathrow's reputation is more or less rock-bottom these days.
I would seriously suggest that it's time to close the doors on the place and develop a proper 21st Century airport for London elsewhere. The fundamental problem is that the basic layout was designed in 1946 for a/c with half the current span and a quarter of the weight of present designs. The site simply isn't big enough and don't get me started on the infrastructure. The main road to the airport from the South goes over a railway bridge which was built 150 years ago for horse & cart and hasn't been widened since!
As to the loss of a wingtip on a 744, I once witnessed a BA 744 arriving at LGW with one winglet missing. It had had a tangle with another a/c at Caracas and following removal of the stub the a/c had dispatched with one winglet. Apparently it didn't make enough difference to the fuel burn to make any adjustments necessary. I expect there's a difference in MEL for an outstation departure compared with base, on the basis that another a/c would be available and that the a/c can be fixed at LHR but not CCS.
I just can't believe that the pax were held on board for 2.5 hrs, as reported. Did it really take Airfield Ops/BA that long to organise coaches???
TheOddOne
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Hmmmm, don't think there have been too many cases of planes scraping their wings against each other in the air.
...737 / Legacy over Brazil... Tupolev 154 / DHL 757 over Germany... 747 / IL-76 over India...
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To those that have chosen to play down the seriousness of this, I would counsel that a really nice bloke I was proud to know was killed by a wingtip at a large European airport. He was strapped in his seat at the time, sadly just a bit closer to the point of initial contact than the lucky hundreds involved in this one.
PS Neither do I think there's much value in splitting hairs in these incidents between what's active runway and what is taxiway/apron at busy airports. The fact is that when the doors are closed and we're manoeuvring under our own steam we are talking about exactitudes of flight ops safety not the quick and dirtiness of ground ops.
PS Neither do I think there's much value in splitting hairs in these incidents between what's active runway and what is taxiway/apron at busy airports. The fact is that when the doors are closed and we're manoeuvring under our own steam we are talking about exactitudes of flight ops safety not the quick and dirtiness of ground ops.
Can you believe that at a major airport the ATIS says - "WING TIP CLEARENCE IS NOT ASSURED AT THE HOLDING AREA", only a matter of time........
JAS
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Daily Torygraph,
How do you "investigate both aircraft"?
What a load of drivel being reported on this minor incident. Who wants to bet that the next baggage tug or airbridge that causes a dent or scratch to the paintwork at LHR makes frontpage / Sky News....in baggage dolly terror smash .............
How do you "investigate both aircraft"?
What a load of drivel being reported on this minor incident. Who wants to bet that the next baggage tug or airbridge that causes a dent or scratch to the paintwork at LHR makes frontpage / Sky News....in baggage dolly terror smash .............