TUI flight attendant plummeted from plane as crew pushed steps away

A TUI flight attendant was left seriously injured following a horror fall from a plane at East Midlands Airport after the flight steps were pushed away.

The woman, a senior crew member who had over 36 years of experience, was closing the aircraft's front door when she put her left foot on the steps. Despite her best efforts to hang onto the door, she fell through the gap and to the ground, breaking multiple bones, an Air Accident Investigations Branch report has revealed.

The incident occurred on December 16, 2024, with the flight bound for Lanzarote being delayed after the accident. The AAIB investigation found the step removal occurred despite the aircraft door being open. The primary dispatcher was also still at the top of the stairs to pass paperwork to the flight crew, but was able to hang onto the side rail to prevent himself from falling, NottinghamshireLive reports.

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A total of three dispatchers, who are responsible for coordinating the aircraft on the ground, were present, along with four ramp staff members, also in charge of ground handling. The AAIB stated that "it was not clear who had responsibility for checking that the aircraft door was closed and steps were clear".

One of the dispatchers was already at the bottom of the steps, while a second had just come off them when the ramp staff assumed the door closure was complete and the steps could be moved away from the aircraft. The dispatcher, already at the bottom of the steps, began retracting the stabiliser legs from the front steps to prepare them for removal.

Two of the ramp agents then began pushing the steps away from the plane 'rapidly' as it was assumed "activities in the aircraft were complete and the cabin door was closed".

In relation to one of the ramp staff members, the AAIB report reads: "He looked up and could not see any light coming from the cabin and so he felt sure that the door was closed. He released the steps’ hand brake and together with the fourth member of the ramp team began to push the steps away from the aircraft.

"He heard what he thought was the team leader shouting to stop and he turned around to see the flight attendant laying on the ramp and the passenger door open."

The AAIB investigation found that door closure and step removal had been the subject of a "procedural workaround" at EMA and other UK airports where the ground handling company, which was not named in the report, operated.

The report states: "The dispatch and ramp staff were using a procedural workaround where the dispatcher was at the top of the steps completing the door closure procedure for which he was not qualified or approved. The workaround meant that the ramp staff who were qualified to operate the steps were under the platform close to the aircraft rather than one of them completing the door closure at the top of the steps which was the approved procedure.

"The practice was so commonplace that even those who were aware it was not allowed did not see a need to challenge it or report it as a safety concern."

The authority added that the procedure had been in place "for many years" and had not been identified in audits.

The AAIB said: "The step removal process was conducted in a way that was not consistent with the written policy and had insufficient safeguards to prevent movement of the steps with people on them or the door still open."

A report by the airport also found air traffic control - which could not see what happened from the tower - did not realise the seriousness of the incident, which triggered a lower grade of response. The responsibility for attaching staircases to a plane usually lies with the ground handling agent, who works on behalf of the airline.

An airport spokesman said: "East Midlands Airport has supported the AAIB and other regulatory bodies throughout this investigation. Our involvement in the incident was limited to Air Traffic Control initiating a call-out to our Fire Service, which attended as First Responders.

"East Midlands Airport has robust emergency procedures in place, and these were followed during the incident. The report acknowledges that while our Fire Service could have arrived sooner had the pilot declared an emergency, the response time ultimately made little difference in this case.

"We remain fully committed to working collaboratively with all operators on the airport to help prevent a similar incident from happening in the future. We extend our best wishes to the cabin crew member who was injured and sincerely hope they have made a full recovery."

The AAIB established that both the ground handling company and the operator took safety action to address the issues raised in the investigation.