Ground crew worker dies following 'serious accident' at Heathrow Airport

The Metropolitan Police has confirmed that a man in his 40s, who had suffered serious injuries, has died. Another worker suffered a broken shoulder in the incident, which happened at around 6am this morning. Passengers were removed from a British Airways plane nearby following the incident near Terminal 5.

A Met spokesman said: "Police were called at 6:06am following a collision between two airport vehicles on the taxiway at Heathrow Airport.

"One male, is believed to have sustained a broken shoulder; his injuries are not life-threatening or life-changing.

"Another male, aged in his 40s, was taken to a west London hospital with serious injuries. He has since died.

"Officers have informed next of kin. We await formal identification.

"A post-mortem will be scheduled in due course.

"There have been no arrests.

"The Health and Safety executive has been informed.

"Officers from the Met’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit are investigating."

At least 20 British Airways flights were delayed as a result of the incident.

The passengers in the affected plane have since departed on another aircraft, The Observer has been told.

A Heathrow spokesperson said: “We can confirm that following a serious accident involving two vehicles on our airfield, an airport colleague has passed away.

"Our deepest condolences go to the family and friends affected by this accident. We will be fully cooperating with the police in the investigation which will follow.”

A British Airways spokeswoman said: "We have apologised to customers for the delay to a small number of our flights this morning, following a serious incident involving two operational vehicles at the airport."

Steven Ross, who was at Heathrow when journeys became disrupted, said on Twitter: "Well handled by both @HeathrowAirport and @British_Airways considering nature of incident.

"BA allowed us to change routes without charge so as not to impact onward travel plans."