Plane collides with truck while being towed onto runway

A plane preparing to fly to Barcelona has collided with a truck while it was being towed to the runway at Manchester Airport.

It's thought the Vueling Airlines plane was being towed away from a passenger boarding air bridge by the truck ahead of takeoff when the crash occurred.

Passengers were immediately evacuated and loaded onto coaches.

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An aviation expert told the Manchester Evening News: "What happened is the shear pins snapped, and the tug went straight under the plane and hit the engine.

"The shear pin prevents the aircraft from being mishandled by the tug - when over-stressed the shear pin will snap."

Twitter user @OxBlueBilly uploaded pictures of the scene which show the plane's nose resting on top of the truck.

According to the Daily Star, a spokesman for Vueling Airlines said the plane was being checked by maintenance, adding: "This morning's issue with the Vueling aircraft did not cause a delay in the airport's operations.

"All flights arrived and departed at their scheduled time."