Accident investigators are calling for a comprehensive review of ground safety at Heathrow following a spate of collisions between planes and buildings which have raised concern about overcrowding at Britain's busiest airport.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) will today express alarm about the number of aircraft hitting piers, gates and tugs as the airport's management struggles to find space to park planes.
Last year a dispatcher had to run clear of an airbridge to escape injury when he realised a British Airways jumbo jet was about to crash into it. The plane, which had arrived from San Francisco, sustained a hole in its wing and severe damage to one of its engines which sucked in debris.
A few weeks earlier a Boeing 737 operated by the Romanian airline Tarom suffered similar damage when it hit a jetty on arrival from Bucharest.
Four years ago the AAIB reported that there were between 70 and 120 incidents a year in which aircraft were damaged by accidents on the ground at Heathrow. Investigators will today criticise the airport's "inadequate response" to the problem.
AAIB investigators have concluded that there is "little overall strategy" for guiding air craft on to stands, with confusion about who is responsible for using emergency stop signals. They will call on the Civil Aviation Authority to conduct an audited review of the airport's operations.
"London Heathrow airport operates within a site of restricted size. It is apparent that the airport is working to capacity and that the operation is constantly being driven to increase this capacity still further," says the report, which points out that some stands designed for one aircraft are being used to accommodate two smaller planes.
Heathrow is the world's busiest international hub, handling 63 million passengers annually on 90 airlines. Aircraft take off or land on the airport's two runways every 90 seconds. A £4.2bn fifth terminal is due to open in 2008.
The transport secretary, Alistair Darling, has indicated that he favours construction of a third runway, as long as air pollution is reduced locally.
BAA, which operates Heathrow, said it was installing extra "emergency stop" buttons, allowing ground staff to warn pilots when they were about to hit piers. The company said it had reviewed procedures in response to recent incidents and was considering the recommendations of the investigators.
