Synopsis

On 21 April 2008, an Avro RJ85 aircraft was parked on Stand 10 at London City Airport, with an Avro RJ100 parked to its left, on the adjacent Stand 11. Prior to taxiing, the RJ85 had been repositioned by a tug to gain sufficient wingtip clearance from the RJ100. This had the effect of reducing the tail clearance between the two aircraft, which was not identified. As the RJ85 taxied forward and to the right, its tail contacted the tail of the RJ100, causing minor damage to the RJ100’s right elevator.

The Investigation

The Investigation into the Serious Incident led by the UK AAIB, determined the following cause(s):

"The collision occurred due to a combination of the RJ100 on Stand 11 being parked 1 m to the right of its stand centreline, the RJ85 on Stand 10 being pushed back onto a heading which further reduced the tail clearance, and the limited clearance between aircraft of this size when using these stands. The absence of a person monitoring the tail area meant that the inadequate tail clearance was not identified prior to the collision.

The safety actions already taken by the airport operator following this incident should reduce the risk of tail collisions between aircraft operating from Stands 10 and 11 at London City Airport."

The report stated that since the following safety actions were taken, safety recommendations were not considered necessary:

[…]