Plane hit by baggage truck

A plane collided with a baggage truck today as it prepared to take-off from Belfast International Airport.

None of the 136 passengers on board the 9.30am easyJet flight to Amsterdam was injured.

An airport spokeswoman said: “The plane was stationary and it seems the outer casing was damaged in the bump.

“They were just putting on the last pieces of luggage.”

One passenger described how travellers found out what had happened.

Paul Sharkey told BBC Radio Ulster: “I knew the doors of the aircraft were closed.

“My nephew said ‘What was that?’ About 10 minutes after that the captain came on and told us one of the service vehicles had crashed into the aircraft.

“We thought it was all rather strange because we were the only aircraft sitting there.”

As engineers assessed damage to the 737 plane, the budget airline brought in a replacement aircraft. The flight is now scheduled to depart at 1pm.

An easyJet spokesman described it as an “unfortunate accident”.