TWO
planes have collided on the runway as they prepared to take off from
London Stansted Airport.
A
Ryanair flight was clipped by
Primera jet this morning as it was about to fly to
Dublin as hundreds head to
Ireland to vote in the
abortion referendum.
The wing of the Primera flight to Malaga clipped the tail of the stationary Ryanair aircraft.
An airport spokesman said both planes returned to their stands after the "minor airfield incident" at around 9.15am.
He said: "No injuries have been reported and no evacuation was required from either aircraft.
"As a precaution, airfield operations were briefly suspended, but all flights have now resumed."
Ryanair said in a statement: "One of our aircraft was stationary at the designated holding point on the taxiway at London Stansted Airport this morning when the winglet of a Primera Air aircraft taxiing behind scraped its tail stabiliser.
"Both aircraft were under the instruction of London Stansted Air Traffic Control at the time.
"The Ryanair aircraft returned to stand to be inspected by Ryanair engineers.
"To minimise delay, customers will transfer to a replacement aircraft later this morning."
Investigators are one the scene to establish how the the the planes came into contact.
The FR205 Ryanair flight to Dublin was waiting for permission to take off when it was shunted from behind by the Primera flight taxiing behind it.
Cabin crew quickly confirmed to those on board that the aircraft had been hit and that all passengers would have to be evacuated.
Three fire engines quickly appeared alongside the plane as a precautionary measure although there appeared to be no sign of danger.
Passengers said the mood remained calm on the plane.
Witnesses said the back doors of the plane could not be opened, so passengers were gradually moved from the back to the front door.
A large number of those on board were travelling to Ireland to vote in today's referendum on repealing the country's eighth amendment, which effectively criminalises abortion.
Huge numbers of Irish people are travelling from the UK to cast their vote in a referendum.
The #HometoVote hashtag has been used more than 43,000 times as voters unite in making journeys to have their say in deciding whether or not to repeal Ireland’s eighth amendment.
The "Yes" campaign has rapidly picked up steam in recent years, spurred on by cases such as the death of Savita Halappanavar in 2012.
If the eighth amendment is repealed, it will allow for the Irish government to legislate on abortion as they see fit, most likely permitting terminations up to 12 weeks.