

Codi Wilson, CP24.com





The Transportation Safety Board is investigating after two passenger planes clipped wings at Pearson Airport on Saturday night.

According to Peel Regional Police's airport division, an outgoing LOT Polish Airlines plane and an incoming Air Canada flight clipped wings at a gate at around 10:20 p.m.

All passengers got off both planes safely and no injuries were reported. The LOT flight was cancelled, forcing passengers to rebook their flights.

Air Canada spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick said the aircraft had just landed from Punta Cana and was parking when it clipped wings with the LOT plane. He added that the incident is currently under investigation.

Harjinder Badial, the vice-president of Teamsters Local 419, the union representing 700 striking workers at Pearson International Airport, suggested that temporary ground workers hired by Swissport Canada Handling, the employer of the striking staff, could be to blame for the incident.

“We know the company has been hiring more temp workers, giving them two hours of training and putting them on live flights,” he said.

But Pierre Payette, the vice-president of operations for Swissport, rejected the union's accusations.

In a written statement released Sunday, he said an Air Canada flight was arriving at its gate when it collided with an aircraft that was “properly parked.”

Swissport does not provide service to Air Canada.

“The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) advised that the taxying Air Canada plane hit the stationary plane, which at the time, was being loaded by a very experienced Swissport crew,” Payette’s statement read.

"We would like (to) reassure travellers that anyone working for or on behalf of Swissport receives standardized safety and job specific training. We regret that the union is using this incident to suggest otherwise and are confident that the TSB investigation will demonstrate that our staff was operating according to procedure.”

Chris Krepski, a spokesperson with the TSB, said investigators are in the process of gathering information from the GTAA, Air Canada and LOT.

The case is still in the preliminary stages, he said, adding that it could take a few days before the TSB determines next steps.