A Rossiya Airlines aircraft reportedly injured a worker on Wednesday afternoon. According to passengers, the plane may have run over the man's foot. (The Sun)
A worker on the ground at London’s Gatwick Airport was reportedly run over by a plane on Wednesday evening, suffering injuries to his ankle and foot.
The man, who was directing traffic on the runway, was airlifted to a London hospital after he was injured by the Rossiya Airlines airplane, the BBC reports.
Immediately following the incident, passengers aboard the Rossiya aircraft reported that the flight crew told them the plane rolled over a crew member’s foot.
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The airport has since issued a statement regarding the “unfortunate” accident.
"We can confirm that an incident took place on the airfield at 1710 where a Dnata employee was unfortunately injured and the emergency services were required to attend," a Gatwick spokesperson told The Sun.
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A representative for Aeroflot, the airline which owns Rossiya, issued a statement to Fox News confirming an injury to the man's leg, claiming it was due to a "serious infringement of safety regulations" on his part.
"As the A319 operating flight FV6620 from London Gatwick to St. Petersburg on 28 March was pushing back before takeoff, there was a serious infringement of safety regulations by an employee of Dnata, the local ground service company. As a result, the Dnata employee’s leg became trapped under the moving wheel of the aircraft, causing him an injury.
"The trapped employee was freed using non-standard equipment, and as a result the aircraft suffered light damage requiring additional repair work. The aircraft was temporarily removed from operations."
The airline went on to suggest that Gatwick's staff may have acted inappropriately by removing "the on-board equipment for recording conversations between the crew of the aircraft and ground crews" without "first obtaining permission for this from Aeroflot’s technical service team."
The company that employed the man, meanwhile, has confirmed he his no longer in the hospital.
"The employee has now been discharged from hospital and we will continue to provide them with the necessary support as they recover," said Dnata, per the BBC.
Passengers on the Rossiya flight were held aboard the aircraft for two hours before being allowed to deplane, News.com.au reported.
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Aeroflot added in its statement that the travelers were provided with accommodations at local hotels while a reserve plane was flown in to transport them to St. Petersburg on Thursday.
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