Two planes collide on Heathrow runway

updated 8:15 p.m. ET Oct. 15, 2007

LONDON - Two big passenger jets clipped each other while taxiing on a runway at London’s Heathrow Airport Monday night, but there were no injuries, officials said.

“It was a minor collision in between two planes who just clipped each other,” a London fire brigade spokesman said, speaking anonymously in line with the brigade’s policy. “There was no fire, no injuries, no damage.”

The planes involved were a British Airways Boeing 747 and a Sri Lankan Airlines Airbus A340, the fire brigade said.

Authorities didn’t provide specific details of the accident, but a passenger aboard the Sri Lankan flight said the wing of her plane appeared to hit the other aircraft.

“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,” Danish journalist Annasofie Flamand told The Associated Press by telephone.

Passengers on both planes were evacuated safely after the collision at 10:10 p.m., BAA PLC, which manages Heathrow, said in a statement. Officials did not say how many passengers had been aboard the two aircraft.

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British Airways said an investigation had been launched, and that the airline’s plane was being examined by engineers.

The fire brigade disputed an earlier Sky News television report stating that one of the plane’s engines had fallen off, insisting there had been no damage.

The television station reported that some 40 fire engines arrived at the scene, but the fire brigade said the engines left the runway after about 15 minutes.

London’s ambulance service said it was called to the airport at about 10:20 p.m. but was recalled after about 10 minutes.

Heathrow Airport, Europe’s busiest, handles more than 67 million passengers a year.

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