A disability rights activist who was traveling to Athens to speak at an international conference on rare diseases has died in a tragic accident just moments after touching down at Athens International Airport, when the barrier of a special assistance vehicle swung open, and she fell onto the tarmac below.
Maria Lada, 67, had just arrived at Athens Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport (ATH) on Thursday morning (February 26) following a short flight from the Greek island of Kefalonia.
As the aircraft was parked at a ‘remote stand’ without access to a jetbridge connected to the terminal building, most passengers were required to deplane via airstairs and then board buses to the terminal.
Passengers who are unable to navigate airstairs, however, deplane via a special vehicle known as an ambulift or medical high-lifter, which resembles an aircraft catering truck.
Passengers with reduced mobility board the ambulift step-free, and then the vehicle lowers to ground level and drives them to the airport terminal.
The open-sided ambulift had a gate to prevent anyone from falling over the side, but the gate unexpectedly opened while it was still being lowered to the ground. Maria fell from a height of 1.5 to 2 meters to the ground and was seriously injured, the Greek national broadcaster ERT News reports.
Emergency medical responders rushed to the scene and transported her to a local hospital, where medical staff performed CPR on her for more than an hour. Unfortunately, she could not be revived, and she was pronounced dead in the Emergency Room.
Maria was a member of the Association for the Protection of Equality and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which mourned her death in a statement posted to the group’s website.
“Maria Lada was not just an active member of our community. She was a pioneer in the fight for accessibility, safe transportation, and equal participation of people with disabilities in social life,” the statement read.
“She came to Athens from Kefalonia to speak at an international conference on rare diseases, continuing until the last moment her fight for information, empowerment, and visibility of people with disabilities and rare diseases.”
The statement added: “This tragic event cannot be treated as just another accident. It highlights in the harshest way that accessibility is not a technical detail, nor a bureaucratic obligation — it is a matter of safety, dignity, and life.”
In the wake of the accident, the special assistance helper who had been accompanying Maria was initially arrested but has since been released while the investigation into the accident continues.
Last June, Edinburgh International Airport (EDI) in Scotland was fined £80,000 after an 81-year-old man who had just landed from a holiday on the Greek island of Rhodes was killed in very similar circumstances as Maria
The November 2023 incident occurred because the ambulift used to transport James Young and his wife, Anne, from the plane to ground level was faulty, and, according to investigators, had probably been so for some time before the accident.
The ambulift in use at Edinburgh Airport had an open tail-lift platform with side safety rails. As the platform was being lowered, James leaned on the side rail, which suddenly swung open, causing him to fall to the tarmac below.
Although James only fell five feet, and his injuries weren’t, at first, believed to be that serious, he was taken to the hospital, where it was discovered that he had, in fact, been seriously injured. He died a week later in the hospital.
Following a lengthy investigation, Edinburgh Airport ultimately pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 5(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and Section 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
