History of the Flight
On 23 October 2014, Emirates Airline flight EK539, an Airbus A330-243 registered A6-EKR, departed from Ahmedabad International Airport, India, and landed at Dubai International Airport at approximately 0156 UTC on runway 30L. The aircraft carried 274 passengers and 14 crew members, including 2 flight crew and 12 cabin crew. The captain was piloting during landing and taxi, while the copilot handled communications with air traffic control.
After landing, the aircraft vacated runway 30L via taxiway Kilo 9 and turned left onto taxiway Kilo. Air traffic control instructed the crew to proceed via taxiways Juliet 3 and Zulu to parking bay Golf 2. The aircraft made several sharp turns, including 90-degree turns, before reaching taxiway Zulu. At that point, the captain shut down the No. 2 engine in accordance with standard operating procedures and continued taxiing using the No. 1 engine.
Incident
While taxiing on taxiway Kilo, the senior cabin crewmember left her designated jump seat (R4A) and moved toward the forward economy galley to perform her duty as L2 door checker. However, she first went to the business galley to retrieve her uniform hat from a coat closet behind the R1 jump seat. As the aircraft taxied on taxiway Zulu and its main landing gear came abeam the centerline of parking bay Golf 2, the captain applied firm braking to avoid overshooting the final turn. The braking decelerated the aircraft from 14 knots to 4 knots in 4 seconds.
At that moment, the cabin crewmember lost her balance, was thrown forward into the business galley, struck the galley worktop, and fell to the floor. She sustained serious injuries to her neck and back, as documented in medical reports. She was hospitalized on 23 October 2014 and discharged on 26 October 2014.
Cause
The Air Accident Investigation determined that the accident occurred because the cabin crewmember left her jump seat before the final turn onto the parking stand and before the flight crew announced, "Cabin Crew, Prepare all doors and cross check."