Overview
- A ground service vehicle struck an Israir aircraft during towing at a London airport, damaging the plane and forcing the carrier to cancel the flight.
- Passengers were evacuated from the damaged plane and escorted back to the terminal to collect their luggage before being moved to hotels.
- Dozens of travelers who observe Shabbos were left stranded and will be returned on a later flight that the airline says will run after the holiday.
- Israir arranged hotel rooms, transport and reimbursements for self-arranged lodging, apologized to customers, and said it is working with authorities to operate a rescue flight.
- Some reports say this is the third similar towing accident at the airport and that no formal probe was held into earlier incidents, a claim that remains unverified and raises questions about ground-handling oversight.