A 53-year-old woman flight attendant fell off a stationary Air India plane while closing its door at the Mumbai airport on Monday, suffering serious injuries.
The wide-body Boeing-777 aircraft was preparing to depart for New Delhi when Harsha Lobo fell on the tarmac from a height of 20 feet, apparently through a gap between the rear door and the step ladder, a senior Air India official said.
The incident occurred around 6 am, the official said. Lobo suffered multiple fractures in her legs and was rushed to the Nanavati Hospital where she is critical.
Due to the incident, flight AI-864, scheduled to take off at 7 am, was delayed by about one-and-a-half hours. “In an unfortunate incident, one of our cabin crew (member), Harsha Lobo, fell down on the tarmac from the Boeing-777 aircraft while closing the door,” the airline said in a statement. Air India is inquiring into the incident, the statement added.
“Though a full investigation will establish the reasons for the incident, prima facie it appears there was a gap between the aircraft gate and the step ladder, through which she fell 20 feet down on the tarmac,” an airline official said. The airline’s safety department has called all those linked to the incident on Tuesday as part of its probe. The Nanavati Hospital said a cabin crew member of AI was brought to the hospital at 7 am after she suffered “serious injuries”.