Planes' collision brings safety change at airport (From Daily Echo)

Planes' collision brings safety change at Southampton Airport

5:00pm Wednesday 17th October 2012 in News

NEW safety procedures have been rolled out after two passenger planes collided before take-off at Southampton Airport.

A report has revealed how a Flybe aircraft carrying 66 people crashed into another of the firm’s planes as it was preparing to taxi to the runway.

Pilots were given the green light to ‘pushback’ from stand 6 at the terminal. But towards the end of the manoeuvre the Glasgowbound jet clipped the tail of a stationary Flybe aircraft preparing to take 52 passengers to Manchester.

Both planes sustained minor damage to their tail sections in the crash on January 16, but nobody was hurt, according to an Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report.

ATC, the airport operators and aircraft handling agent, have implemented new pushback procedures aimed at avoiding a repeat of the incident.