Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Ryanair ‘crash victim’ passenger describes terror as pictures emerge of damage to two planes involved

Accident under investigation after one jet saw wing tip completely snapped off

Adam Withnall
Monday 30 June 2014 09:49 BST
Comments
Images posted to Twitter by London-based Ren Ivaldi showed the extent of the damage to one of the plane's wings
Images posted to Twitter by London-based Ren Ivaldi showed the extent of the damage to one of the plane's wings (Twitter/Ren Ivaldi)

Pictures have emerged on Twitter showing the dramatic moment when two Ryanair Boeing 737s crashed into each other on the ground at Stansted Airport.

The incident yesterday morning saw passengers face delays of up to three hours after a plane bound for Warsaw and one that had just arrived from Frankfurt Hahn collided in the airport’s parking area.

London-based PR worker Ren Ivaldi, who was on the out-bound plane, wrote this afternoon on Twitter that he had finally made it to his wedding in Warsaw, and that Ryanair “did not charge us for the extra entertainment yesterday”.

He described himself as “officially a plane crash survivor”, and posted alarming images online showing the extent of the damage to the wing of one of the jets.

Twitter user Ren Ivaldi took pictures of the damage from his seat and on the ground once passengers had been disembarked

Mr Ivaldi said: “Huge loud crashing noise and totally felt the crush sitting at the back.

“The other plane's wing is half crushed,” he added. “No electricity on plane. No toilets, no ventilation.”

Mr Ivaldi later described the incident as “scary”, saying it was “an eye-opener for people to realise how close we can come at any moment to our lives being changed forever”.

Mr Ivaldi said police 'tried to stop people from taking pictures' of the damage

The incident is now being looked into by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch, though a spokesperson for Stansted Airport said they were operating as normal while enquiries are carried out.

Yesterday, a Ryanair spokesperson confirmed that two planes “made contact”, causing damage to both.

He said: “This morning at London Stansted the wing tip and tail cone of two Ryanair aircraft made contact while one aircraft was taxiing to stand and the other was commencing pushback from stand.

This image showed the snapped-off portion of wing on the ground 'on the car', Mr Ivaldi said

“Customers were disembarked and boarded two replacement aircraft which departed Stansted with a delay of approximately three hours.

“Our Stansted-based engineering team are currently investigating and will repair both aircraft and return them to service as soon as possible.

“Ryanair sincerely apologises to affected customers for any inconvenience.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in