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A Sunwing plane caught on fire after it clipped a WestJet aircraft at Toronto Pearson International Airport Friday evening, forcing WestJet passengers to evacuate the plane on emergency slides.

A WestJet spokesperson told Global News that while waiting to proceed to the gate, a Sunwing plane reversing from the gate struck a WestJet Boeing 737-800 carrying 168 guests and six crew members.

Passengers on WestJet Flight 2425 had to evacuate the airplanes by its emergency slide “due to the position of the aircraft on the laneway,” the spokesperson said. Everyone from the flight was taken inside Terminal 3 for customs processing.

Pics of the collision @TorontoPearson where the wing of @WestJet #WS2425 struck the tail of a Sunwing aircraft (which caught fire) at Terminal 3. @TSBCanada deploying a team of investigators. pic.twitter.com/MtUb9P3dI9 — Jeremy Cohn (@JeremyGlobalTV) January 6, 2018

In a statement from a Sunwing spokesperson, they said one of their planes came into contact with another aircraft while it was being towed. They said there were no passengers or crew onboard at the time. The airline said it will release an update as information becomes available.

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Swissport Canada Handling Inc. confirmed to Global News its staff towed the Sunwing plane. Pierre Payette, vice president of operations for Toronto, said in a written statement the company “regrets” the incident and is cooperating with Transportation Safety Board investigators.

WATCH: Pearson Airport worker films Sunwing plane on fire after clipping WestJet plane

0:32 Pearson Airport worker films Sunwing plane on fire after clipping WestJet plane Pearson Airport worker films Sunwing plane on fire after clipping WestJet plane

READ MORE: Two planes touch wings on tarmac at Pearson International Airport

“The incident occurred when our employee was pushing back the plane from the gate,” Payette wrote.

“The impact caused a small fire in the empty aircraft’s exterior generator, which was quickly extinguished by the fire department.”

A Greater Toronto Airports Authority spokesperson said it took fire and emergency services crews 18 minutes to extinguish the fire.

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In a dramatic audio recording of air traffic control staff and pilots shared by the website LiveATC.net, a pilot issued a mayday call.

“Mayday, mayday, mayday, WestJet 2425 we’re evacuating,” he said, before someone could be heard saying, “We’re on fire.”

Photos shared on social media appear to show flames shooting out from the Sunwing plane and firefighters dousing it with water.

VIDEO: Pilot calls for ‘mayday’ after plane catches fire at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport

0:26 Pilot calls for ‘mayday’ after plane catches fire at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport Pilot calls for ‘mayday’ after plane catches fire at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport

Peel paramedics said a person was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) told Global News investigators were dispatched to the airport from Richmond Hill to look into the incident.

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TSB spokesperson Chris Krepski said on Saturday that the investigation is still ongoing but they confirmed the “fire started when an auxiliary power unit of the Sunwing flight made contact with the WestJet flight.”

WATCH: Woman films evacuation from WestJet flight after incident at Pearson Airport

0:33 Woman in flip flops films evacuation from WestJet flight after incident at Pearson Airport Woman in flip flops films evacuation from WestJet flight after incident at Pearson Airport

Speaking with passengers aboard #WS2425 who describe a scene of panic after the two planes hit each other @TorontoPearson and one caught fire. People were screaming, climbing onto the wings, say the airport was disorganized. pic.twitter.com/dp9ymw7Ame — Jeremy Cohn (@JeremyGlobalTV) January 6, 2018

@SunwingVacay plane caught fire beside our @WestJet plane as we were almost ready to leave!! #smellslikesmoke guess we won’t be leaving anytime soon ☹️😠 pic.twitter.com/6K4tuxpuHG — Lisa Nadalin (@LisaannArts) January 5, 2018

Deploys team following collision between 2 aircraft at Toronto Pearson Airport, ON https://t.co/5NWNQ8V1Ws — TSB of Canada (@TSBCanada) January 6, 2018

Update 1 [18:36 MT] – All 168 guests and six crew are accounted for. We can confirm guests are safely in the terminal and they are in the process of clearing customs. — WestJet (@WestJet) January 6, 2018

We are aware of an incident that occurred shortly after 6pm this evening at Toronto Pearson Airport where a Sunwing aircraft, under tow by our ground handling service provider, came into contact with another aircraft. — Sunwing Vacations (@SunwingVacay) January 6, 2018

There were no Sunwing crew or passengers onboard at the time of the incident. We are awaiting further information from Swissport and will provide more details as they become available. — Sunwing Vacations (@SunwingVacay) January 6, 2018