Aircraft wing rips through Johannesburg building
The wing of a British Airways plane carrying 180 people tears into a building near Johannesburg airport while preparing to take off.
Picture credit: Harriet Tolputt
Four ground staff were injured when the wing of a British Airways 747 aircraft ripped through a building near Johannesburg airport as it was preparing to take off.
Pictures of the incident showed the plane’s wing embedded in the first floor of a two-storey building next to the runway.
Harriet Toputt, head of media for Oxfam who was on the plane when the wing hit the building, tweeted that no-one onboard was injured, “only the pilot’s pride”.
Not impressed that first class passengers get off before premium economy during an emergency.
— Harriet Tolputt (@HarrietTolputt) December 22, 2013
The plane, bound for London, was carrying about 180 people. None of the passengers was injured although some employees on the ground received minor injuries.
The wing collided with the building late on Sunday night, said the Airports Company South Africa.
The aircraft has since been moved and the airport’s operations were unaffected, said ACSA, which is making further investigations into the incident.
4 ground staff who were in the OR Tambo building which the British Airways wing hit, experienced minor injuries
http://t.co/yeMlWmIXzH
— SouthAfrica.TO (@southafricaTO) December 23, 2013