Authorities say the incident happened at 8:30 a.m. Saturday as Virgin Atlantic Flight 26 was being pushed back from the gate by a tug. There were 277 passengers and 14 crew members.
A spokeswoman Virgin Atlantic Airways said a “miscalculation by the tug” caused minor damage to one of the plane’s wing tips. She said the plane had returned to the gate and that Virgin is working to get customers on their way.
“The VS26 departing from JFK to London Heathrow today returned to the gate after a miscalculation by the tug caused minor damage to one of its wing tips. All customers have disembarked the aircraft and our teams are working hard to get our customers on their way as soon as possible. Safety is our number one priority and we would like to apologize for the delay and any inconvenience caused,” the statement said.
Flight 26 was an Airbus A340-600 scheduled to depart for London at 8:15 a.m.
Virgin Atlantic Flight 26 wing clipped on runway at 8:15 am today. Bad customer Service from Virgin. Still waiting pic.twitter.com/DW2xVd1Hg6
— JulieW (@RealRealJulie) September 19, 2015