A Ryanair plane has been left with £200,000 worth of damage to its rear stabiliser after it rolled backwards 40 metres crashing into an airport fire station.

The force of the impact tore apart the 'tail wing' of the £72m Boeing 737 at Rome Ciampino Airport yesterday.



The accident happened shortly after the aircraft, which has been grounded, landed and passengers had disembarked.



Damaged: The 737-800 plane was not properly secured on landing, and so began to roll backwards. Nobody was on board at the time, according to a Ryanair spokesman

'It's a good job no one was standing by the garage or driving past as the plane would have slammed into them.'

Usually when a plane is parked stationary at an airport brakes are applied and chocks positioned against the wheels to prevent it rolling backwards or forwards.



The area where the incident happened is slightly uphill and close to the main terminal which is used by millions of passengers, many of them British, every year.



Ryanair, which was recently voted the UK's worst airline, blamed the ground handling agent for the incident.

Robin Kiely said: 'Ryanair has asked the ground handling agent (Groundcare) to investigate why it failed to properly secure a Ryanair aircraft at Rome Ciampino Airport yesterday.

'The parked and unoccupied aircraft rolled back and made contact with a remote building damaging its rear stabiliser.

'This is currently being replaced and the aircraft will shortly return to service.'

Incident: Tourists leaving a Ryanair plane at Ciampino airport (file image)

A spokesman for Ciampino airport said: 'We are investigating the cause of the incident and whether proper procedures were followed.



'We are aware of reports that chocks were not in place and that's why the police have also been involved and a criminal investigation is also under way.



'Until that is completed there is nothing else to say.'

Groundcare, which was unavailable for comment, is currently on strike at the airport, forcing Ryanair to cancel flights.

The damaged plane was out of service due to the strikes, which have seen Ryanair flights delayed today.

Passengers at Rome's second airport are facing long lines and flight cancellations because of the wildcat strike by baggage handlers.

The unannounced strike began Wednesday morning at Ciampino, a hub for Ryanair and other budget airlines.

About 850 workers of Groundcare, one of seven private companies that handle unloading baggage and cargo at Rome airports, are striking to recover back pay. Groundcare recently filed for bankruptcy protection.

Ciampino was paralysed by the dispute, and airport employees passed out water and hotel information to frustrated, stranded customers during the peak tourist season in Rome.