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British Airways cargo plane’s nose gear collapses at Heathrow Airport

June 18, 2021 | 10:11am | Updated June 18, 2021 | 10:26am

This British Airways plane took a nosedive Friday — when a gear collapse sent its front fuselage onto the tarmac at London’s Heathrow Airport.

Dramatic images show the cargo jet, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner with no passengers aboard, with its nose planted on the ground after the mishap at the UK’s busiest airport.

“A freighter aircraft has been damaged while stationary on stand. As a freighter only aircraft there were no passengers on board,” an airline rep told Sky News. “Safety is always our highest priority and we are investigating the matter.”

No injuries or delays were reported as a result of the incident.

According to flight-tracking data cited by The Sun, the plane arrived from Moscow at about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. It is believed it was preparing for a flight to Frankfurt when the collapse happened.

A British Airways plane at Heathrow Airport has been damaged after tipping on to its nose.
A British Airways plane at Heathrow Airport has been damaged after tipping on to its nose.
PA Images/Sipa USA

Callum Jones, a ramp agent at Manchester airport, told the UK’s Metro that there are many reasons why a nose gear of a plane could collapse.

“They are just lucky nobody was under the nose when it collapsed and no pushback tug was attached either, else it could have been a lot worse,” he told the outlet. “The main thing is that none of the ground crew were in and around the nose gear when it collapsed.”

BA has 32 Boeing 787s in service, including 12 787-8s — of which G-ZBJB, the plane involved in Friday’s incident, is one — as well as 18 787-9s, the Independent reported, citing analytics experts Cirium.