Two planes in collision at Manchester Airport

Daniel Rae — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:30:14 GMT

Two aircraft have been involved in what has been described as a "minor wingtip collision" at Manchester Airport.

The planes, carrying a combined 287 passengers and crew, touched wings while they were taxiing out to the runway from Terminal One.

A spokesman for Manchester Airport said no-one on board the aircraft was hurt in the collision.

The airport remained fully operational and there were no delays as a result of the incident, he added.

One of the planes involved was a Futura flight bound for Tenerife - a Boeing 737-800 - which was carrying 180 passengers.

The other, an Airbus A320, was a Lufthansa flight carrying 107 passengers to Frankfurt, Germany.

Obviously, if you are about to take a flight it's not something you expect to happen so I'd imagine people are feeling a little bit shook up
Russell King, airport spokesman

The flights were due to take off five minutes apart at 1315 BST and 1320 BST respectively.

Both aircraft were checked over by the fire service as a safety precaution and will later be examined by experts to assess any damage.

Airport spokesman Russell King said: "The passengers on board would have felt some kind of bump but it hasn't caused any serious structural damage to the aircraft."

Mr King said everyone stayed on board while the fire service checked over the planes, and then departed down the steps in the normal way.

"Obviously, if you are about to take a flight it's not something you expect to happen so I'd imagine people are feeling a little bit shook up," he added.

Passengers were taken back to the terminal and are likely to complete their onward journeys later on Tuesday.

An investigation into the incident will be carried out.

Source: BBC News

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Two planes in collision at Manchester Airport