The nose of a British Airways plane has collapsed while waiting at Heathrow.
Dozens of ambulances, police cars and fire engines are at the scene of the incident, with the nose of the plane pictured on the tarmac of the London airport.
No passengers were onboard the plane, which was on stand and due to operate as a freight service only.
It is not clear if any staff were on board or if anyone was hurt in the incident.
A witness told Metro.co.uk that emergency services arrived ‘within minutes’ of the nose collapsing and that the area is being cleared.
British Airways said it is launching an investigation into the extent of the damage.
A spokesperson for the company said: ‘A freighter aircraft has been damaged while stationary on stand. As a freighter only aircraft there were no passengers on board.
‘Safety is always our highest priority and we are investigating the matter.’
Callum Jones, a ramp agent at Manchester airport, said there are many reasons why a nose of a plane could collapse and that this will have to be determined by engineers.
He told Metro.co.uk: ‘I didn’t witness the collapse but I work on the ramp at Manchester. There are no injuries apparently. They are just lucky nobody was under the nose when it collapsed and no pushback tug was attached either else it could have been a lot worse.
‘The main thing is that none of the ground crew were in and around the nose gear when it collapsed.’
Earlier, AerohubNews tweeted: ‘An unidentified (at present) British Airways Boeing 787 has suffered a nose gear collapse at London Heathrow Airport this morning.
‘Extent of the damage is currently unknown, further details will be reported once available.’
bbc
