What happened
On February 8, 2013, at EPLB airport, a 2.5-year-old child fell from the upper platform of the aircraft stairs onto the apron. The fall occurred from a height of approximately 3 meters as the child was exiting the rear door of a Boeing 737-800.
Immediately following the fall, the child received first aid from the crew of a fire service vehicle in the presence of the child's mother and a flight coordinator. Although the child was conscious and showed no visible external injuries at the scene, an ambulance arrived approximately 10 minutes later and transported the child to the hospital, where a fractured right arm was diagnosed.
The investigation
The investigation examined the sequence of disembarkation and the condition of the ground equipment. Crew members noted that passengers had been instructed to ensure children were properly supervised while descending the stairs. The two-person ground crew responsible for the stairs confirmed that the equipment had been positioned correctly, a fact corroborated by the aircraft crew.
Because the initial facts suggested that both the aircraft crew and ground staff had followed established procedures, investigators performed a detailed inspection of the stairs' construction and safety features. The investigation focused on the structural integrity of the aircraft protection mechanisms and the railings installed on the stairs.
Findings
- The investigation established that the design of the stairs' protective buffers and railings could, under certain conditions, create a gap of approximately 30 centimeters between the stair platform and the aircraft fuselage.
- This gap was large enough to allow an unsupervised child to slip through and fall to the apron.
- The defective design of the stair safety guards was identified as the primary cause of the incident.