A Virgin Australia plane reversed into a Jetstar aircraft on Saturday morning at the Melbourne Airport, causing up to $3 million in damage.
The Virgin plane hit the Jetstar plane, cutting off the Jetstar A320’s tail cone, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
A Jetstar statement said that the aircraft was stationary when the collision occurred, while Virgin said that both planes were moving.
No one was injured in the accident; the Virgin Australia plane had 175 passengers onboard at the time.
Paul Cousins, the president of the engineers’ union, said the damage could have been much worse.
“It could have caused that engine to rupture ... bits and pieces could have come out it and gone flying everywhere.”
“They were very lucky that the [Virgin plane’s] winglet did not go into the auxillary power unit, which is a small jet engine that runs in the back of the aircraft,’’ Cousins said. ”It could have caused that engine to rupture ... bits and pieces could have come out it and gone flying everywhere.”
The Australian Transit Safety Bureau will investigate what happened, according to the Australian. “There are very well practised procedures in place to manage aircraft (leaving gates) and the ATSB will look into the cause of what happened,” a spokesman said.
