LONDON: Two British Airways baggage handlers will face court hearings after being arrested because the truck they were driving collided with a passenger plane at Heathrow Airport.

The damage to the British Airways jet was only discovered hours after the incident, shortly before the plane was supposed to take off with 80 passengers on board.

Metropolitan Police said in a statement on Wednesday that other British Airways ground staff noticed the plane had a damaged fuselage shortly before takeoff, which was cancelled.

The plane, which had been supposed to fly to Aberdeen, Scotland, was taken out of service because of the damage caused by the baggage-pulling truck.

The incident happened on Friday but was not made public until Wednesday. Police and British Airways did not say where at the airport the collision occurred. The names of the two suspects, who were freed on bail on Saturday, were not released because they have not been formally charged, police said. As is customary in Britain, they will only be named if they are charged.—AP