What happened
On the night of 24 August 1998, an Airbus A300, registration N70073, arrived at London Heathrow Airport operating as a public transport flight. Following landing, the crew was assigned to Stand H9 for parking. Upon approaching the designated stand, the crew observed that the self-parking guidance system lights were not illuminated.
While the aircraft was held short of the stand to wait for assistance, a truck approached the area at high speed and came to a stop adjacent to the parking stand. An individual exited the vehicle, activated the self-parking lights, and then moved away from the crew's line of sight. As the pilot focused on maneuvering the aircraft using the newly activated guidance system, the truck remained in the vicinity. After the parking maneuver was completed, the pilot noticed a person in front of the aircraft using hand signals to indicate a stop, though the individual lacked any high-visibility wands or lights. Although the pilot did not initially feel any impact, ground operations later informed the crew that the aircraft had made contact with a parked vehicle.
The investigation
An inspection of the Airbus A300 following the incident revealed that the left engine cowl had sustained minor damage due to contact with the truck. The investigation established that the aircraft had been positioned correctly within the stand at the conclusion of the maneuver. The investigation also noted that the ground personnel involved did not use any luminous equipment or wands to increase their visibility to the flight crew during the process.