Airport action after air-accidents probe

Procedures have been tightened at Manchester Airport following two separate incidents of passenger planes colliding before take-off.

Both incidents happened at the same spot at Manchester Airport with all four aircraft involved damaged but none of the 468 passengers hurt.

In the first of two separate reports, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch described how the wing tip of a Pakistan International Airways Boeing 777, with 144 passengers on board, struck the rudder of a small 37-passenger, Q400 aircraft operated by Flybe as it passed behind.

Both airliners were about to leave Manchester at around noon on 15 February 2007.

In the second report, the AAIB said the right winglet of a Tenerife-bound Boeing 737, carrying 180 passengers and operated by the now defunct Spanish airline Futura, struck the tail of a 107-passenger Lufthansa Airbus A320 which had been due to fly to Frankfurt.

This incident happened at 1.23pm on 5 August 2008.

The AAIB said that in the February 2007 incident, the crew of the Boeing 777 had been “cautioned about the presence” of the Flybe aircraft.

The report into the August 2008, accident said the crew of the Boeing 737 believed that there were no obstacles in the way and that they had room to get past the A320.

The report said that, following the August 2008 incident, Manchester Airport authorities reviewed procedures and made changes.

A separate third report by the AAIB told how a cabin pressure problem had led to ear discomfort for some of the 183 passengers on board a Jet2.com Boeing 757 flight from Manchester Airport to Taba in Egypt.

In the incident over Greece on 2 March 2 last year, the cockpit crew had to don oxygen masks and divert the plane to Athens after they felt a pressure change in their ears.

The report said a cabin positive pressure relief valve opened during the flight.

After a number of components were replaced on the aircraft, it was returned to service with no further problems.