Heathrow was plunged into crisis after two passenger planes crashed on the runway.
Witnesses say a Virgin Atlantic plane – which was being pushed back by a tug – collided with the tail of a nearby British Airways aircraft.
Pictures circulating online show emergency services scrambling to the scene of the prang on the Heathrow taxiway at Terminal 3 of the west London airport.
No one was on board the Virgin Atlantic plane, understood to be a Boeing787-9, at the time of impact, the airline said.
A spokesman for Virgin Atlantic told Mirror Online: “The wingtip of one of our empty aircraft came into contact with another aircraft whilst being towed from the stand at London Heathrow Terminal 3.
“The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority. We can confirm no customers were on board the Virgin Atlantic aircraft during this time.”
The spokesman added: “We’ve commenced a full and thorough investigation. Our engineering teams are performing maintenance checks on the aircraft, which for now has been taken out of service.”
The accident has not caused any disruptions to Virgin’s schedule of operations to and from the hub, the country’s busiest airport, today as the Easter holidays come to an end.
Twitter user Alex Whittles said: “Just witnessed a plane crash at Heathrow. A tug pushing back a Virgin 787, crashed the wing into a BA A350.”
Expresss.cp.uk has reached out to Heathrow and British Airways for a comment.
