Ally

Two British Airways jets collided on the tarmac at Heathrow Airport on Friday night, after one plane reversed into the other resulting in millions of pounds worth of damage. The airline denies the accident happened as a result of cost cutting, according to a report in the Daily Mail.

The incident occurred only meters from Terminal 4, as the Boeing 777 carrying 200 passengers reversed from its gate into the path of another British Airways Airbus jet, which has just landed and was awaiting permission to dock at its own gate.

Passengers were said to have felt the full force of the collision after the three times heavier Boeing plane bound for Washington DC crashed into the tail-fin of the lighter and smaller Airbus jet arriving from Zurich, resulting in extensive and expensive damage to both.

Fire-fighters and emergency crews were immediately called to the scene, as the airport triggered an emergency whereby forcing other flights to abort landings until passengers were led off both planes.

The Daily Mail reports that BA staff has since said the incident was “an accident waiting to happen” blaming BA’s cost-cutting has led to safety breaches becoming more common. The airline denies the charge, but it has sparked debate within the industry.

"The Airbus which had just arrived from Zurich was supposed to straight to its parking stand. There was space. But the dispatcher who gives permission for it to proceed wasn't there. So it had to wait on the taxi-way tarmac,” a BA insider was reported as saying in the Daily Mail.

'The dispatcher to open the gate wasn't there on time, so the incoming Zurich flight just had to wait. It's an accident waiting to happen.

"The weight of the impact forced the Airbus to go back about 10ft."

An aviation informant said the damage would be at least in the six figure sum, possibly seven.

“Neither aircraft will operate until we are absolutely convinced they are safe to do so,” a spokesperson for British Airways said, as reported in the Daily Mail.

"There were no injuries. Customers would have been seated with their seat belts on. Furthermore both aircraft would have been moving very slowly at the time, given the fact they were moving onto and off of the stands.

"The passengers were disembarked from the aircraft, put up in hotels overnight, and later rebooked onto the next available service."

The airline insisting it would never compromise safety said it will be launching an immediate investigation into the incident.