Qantas planes collide at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)

JUST when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for the troubled airliner two Qantas aircraft have collided at Los Angeles airport.

Qantas planes, pictured at Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport. Picture: Getty Images

TWO Qantas passenger jets have collided with each other at Los Angeles International Airport, damaging both aircraft.

The wing tips of a superjumbo A380 and a Boeing 747 struck around 4pm AEST as the planes were being towed out of a hangar. No passengers were on board.

The damage was substantial enough to force the cancellation of flight QF94 to Melbourne and QF16 to Brisbane.

The incident comes after the troubled airliner this week announced plans to slash more than 5000 jobs, retire ageing planes and sell off terminals in an attempt to cut costs by $2 billion over three years.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce announced the drastic cuts on Thursday. Picture: AAP

Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association federal secretary Steve Purvinas - whose members are responsible for some of the airline’s maintenance - said on Twitter he estimated the repair bill would run into the millions.

“Qantas A380 and B747 will be on the deck for a long time after accident in LAX,” he said. “Thankfully the collision was on the ground.”

A Qantas spokeswoman told news.com.au the damage bill claims were “unsubstantiated”.

Oops. My partner was due home on QF16. No trip to the airport for me in the morning. Man, it sucks to be #qantas

— Geoff Fletcher (@tehfletch) February 28, 2014

QANTAS ANNOUNCES 5000 JOBS AXED

WHAT THE QANTAS CUTS MEANS FOR YOU

The airliner has launched an investigation and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has been notified.

CASA spokesman Peter Gibson said the agency deployed extra safety inspectors to the Qantas bases across Australia following yesterday’s announcement.

Qantas said customers would be put up in hotel rooms and accommodated on the next available flight.

While uncommon, collisions between taxiing aircraft do occur.

In August, a Virgin Australia plane carrying 175 passengers collided with an empty Jetstar plan at Melbourne Airport, causing $3 million damage.