BA Airplane Wing Strikes Johannesburg Airport Building
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A British Airways airplane carrying 202 people struck an office building at Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport with its wing while taxiing for take-off, injuring four, aviation authorities said.
The Boeing 747-400 en route for London Heathrow Airport took a taxiway that was too narrow for it, said South African Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokeswoman Phindiwe Gwebu on Monday.
"This resulted in the aircraft's right-hand wing impacting the office building," she told AFP.
The control tower "told them to take one taxiway and they took another one. They took a wrong one," said Gwebu.
Four people inside the building were injured, but the 185 passengers and 17 crew on board were unharmed during the late-night accident, according to the CAA.
No further information on the injured was immediately available.
An airport spokeswoman confirmed the incident.
A photo taken by a passenger from the cabin showed the aircraft's giant wing wedged into a quarter of the length of the small building.
Harriet Tolputt, head of media for international humanitarian organisation Oxfam, posted the pictures to Twitter.