A ground handling and operation vehicle ended up trapped in the underside of a Ryanair Boeing 737 at Alicante Airport earlier this week.The incident occurred on Tuesday the 12th of April at Alicante-Elche International Airport (ALC). The airport serves as the primary gateway to Spain's Costa Blanca and is a focus city for Ryanair, Vueling, and Air Nostrum.Photographs from the collision posted on Twitter show a small ground services car belonging to Groundforce becoming wedged underneath the aircraft on the apron. The plane has been identified as a Boeing 737-800 belonging to Irish carrier Ryanair.A spokesperson for Ryanair confirmed there were no injuries or passengers onboard when the collision occurred:

There were no passengers on board the aircraft & no injuries were sustained by this incident, which is currently being investigated.”

The airline confirms that a handling agent at the airport left the parking brake disengaged on the ground vehicle. The car then rolled underneath the aircraft's fuselage, becoming wedged. The plane suffered minor exterior damage and was promptly brought in for maintenance in Valencia.

Simple Flying reached out to Ryanair for additional details and received the following statement regarding the incident:

"Ryanair confirms that a minor incident occurred yesterday (the 12th of April) at Alicante Airport, involving a stationary Boeing 737-800 aircraft & handling company car. The handling agent left the parked vehicle’s handbrake off, and it rolled under the fuselage of a stationary Ryanair Boeing 737-800 aircraft, causing some minor exterior damage. The aircraft was immediately brought to our maintenance facility for further examination"

Ryanair 737
The incident is still under investigation by the Irish carrier. Photo: Ryanair

The Spanish airport has seen increased growth from low-cost carrier Wizz Air, who announced a link to Alicante from its new base in Cardiff. The route will be operated on the carrier's Airbus A321neos and begin later this year.

Other notable ground incidents

This collision is far from the first of such instances and one of the less serious in recent times. English heavy metal band Iron Maiden had a similar incident with their tour jet. While on tour to promote their 2015 album "The Book of Souls," the band chartered a Boeing 747-400 from Air Atlanta Icelandic that formerly belonged to Air France.

Nicknamed "Ed Force One," the jet was frequently flown by Iron Maiden lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson and carried the band, entourage, and over twenty tons of equipment around the world. While at Santiago de Chile's Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL), the aircraft collided with the ground tug, badly damaging the undercarriage and two of the aircraft's engines. The plane was so severely damaged that replacement parts had to be flown in on a special flight from Luxemburg via London Stansted.

Iron Maiden Boeing 747 engine 1
Nicknamed "Ed Force One," the jumbo jet required two new engines after colliding with a fuel truck. Photo: Iron Maiden

In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration is introducing a new system to help prevent airport collisions. The FAA announced that surface events have risen to become one of the FAA's top five issues. The administration is issuing additional guidance to help prevent such incidents between aircraft.

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