A Qantas ground worker has been seriously injured in a horrific accident at Sydney Airport on Saturday after they fell from a jetbridge onto the tarmac below.
The incident occurred at around 1 pm at Sydney’s T3 domestic terminal, leaving the airport customer service employee in a critical condition, according to local media reports.
Emergency medical responders scrambled to the scene and provided the worker with First Aid before rushing her to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. She is said to be in a coma with a severe head injury.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Australian flag carrier confirmed the incident, saying, “A Qantas airport customer service team member was injured in an incident at Sydney Airport today, and our focus is on supporting them at this time.”
“Sydney Airport and Qantas will be assisting Safe Work NSW with their investigation.”
The airport also said it was cooperating with Safe Work NSW and said the Australian Federal Police would be carrying out its own investigation.
Falls from height, either from an unguarded jetbridges or an open airplane cabin door, are one of the most significant risks facing ground workers and cabin crew, although there are very obvious differences in how seriously airlines take this issue.
Last May, an airline worker in Indonesia miraculously escaped serious injury after falling out of an open aircraft door when his colleagues accidentally removed the airstairs from the side of the plane just as he stepped off the airplane.
A shocking video of the incident went viral, with viewers left aghast as the ground worker fell to the ground as he walked backwards off the plane into the void below.
In a similar incident in 2020, a Finnair flight attendant was seriously injured when he fell approximately 3.6 meters to the ground from the rear door of an Airbus A320 when the mobile airstairs were removed from the side of the plane.
Matt’s Take – The Airline Industry Needs to Take Falls From Height Seriously
I’ve written before about the risk of falls from heights in the airline industry, and this latest tragic incident goes to show that this danger can’t be underestimated.
In the 2020 incident involving a Finnair flight attendant, the victim was very seriously injured with a fall from 3.6 meters. In this latest incident at Sydney Airport, the victim is understood to have fallen six meters to the ground below, striking the tarmac on her head.
What I find surprising, however, is that some airlines have no problem with flight attendants and ground workers working around open cabin doors without any jetbridge or airstairs attached to the plane.
Obviously, you can’t completely eliminate every single risk, but this seems like a hazard that should be a focus for any airline.
