A 53-year-old Air India air hostess suffered serious injuries on Monday morning after she fell several feet to the tarmac when she was trying to shut a door on-board a Delhi-bound flight at Mumbai airport.
Harsha Lobo, a senior cabin crew member who was preparing Air India’s flight AI-864 for a 7 a.m. departure, sustained multiple fractures and soft tissue injuries including to her lower spine after she tumbled to the apron from the aircraft in a freak accident.
“In an unfortunate incident today, one of our cabin crew Ms. Harsha Lobo, operating flight AI-864, Mumbai to Delhi, fell down on [the] tarmac from B777 aircraft door L5 while closing it,” Air India said in a statement. “She sustained injuries to her legs and has been taken to Nanavati hospital for further treatment. Air India is enquiring into the incident,” the airline added.
While the incident took place at about 6.15 a.m., Ms. Lobo was provided emergency care by doctors at the Mumbai International Airport Ltd. (MIAL) at 6.18 a.m.
“She was found to be conscious and well-oriented, but had sustained a compound [open] fracture of the right lower leg bones and multiple blunt injuries,” a MIAL spokesperson said.
Following the incident, the flight’s departure was delayed by about one hour.
Ms. Lobo, who underwent orthopaedic surgery, was under observation in the Critical Care Unit (CCU) at the Nanavati Super Speciality Hospital, with her condition described as “serious but stable”.
