Two easyJet planes have clipped wings leading to delays and cancellations at a busy UK airport today.
One passenger on board described their horror as the jets collided while taxiing to the runway and looked out of their window to see the crash ‘took the wing off’.
One of the easyJet planes was set to fly to Gibraltar while the other was about to take off for Paris.
The incident took place at Manchester Airport at just after 6.30am this morning with people heading on their summer holidays warned to expect delays.
One passenger on board the most badly damaged plane share an image of the wing with its tip damaged and twisted downwards.
Phil Aspin tweeted: ‘We’ve crashed on the runway’.
Another person on the plane, whose plans to travel from Gibraltar to Marbella have been hit, said: ‘Just on the plane at Manchester Airport and another plane has just hit our wing and took the wing off’.
An investigation into how the planes managed to collide – and why they were so close to each other in the first place – is already underway.
The moment just after two easyJet planes clipped wings at Manchester Airport
The incident took place at just after 6.30am today
An easyJet spokesman said: ‘EasyJet can confirm that two aircraft came into contact whilst taxiing to the runway at Manchester Airport.
‘An immediate investigation has been launched to understand what happened.
‘The safety and security of our passengers and crew is our highest priority.’
Photographs taken after the incident showed the two easyJet planes side by side.
Flights were paused while there were safety checks carried out on the jets.
Departures and arrivals were restarted a shirt while later.
But passengers have been warned that the incident will lead to delays to flights this morning at the UK’s third busiest airport.
