An engineer who fell 35ft from a passenger aircraft at Manchester Airport immediately is “lucky to be alive”, a witness stated. The employee, believed to be in his 60s, plunged out of the again left door of a Jet2 plane at round 8.05am.
He is believed to have damaged each legs, fractured each elbows, dislocated his shoulder and damaged each eye sockets. Speaking to the Sun, the witness, who works on the airport, stated: “We were told that he had been told the steps were on the right, which they were, but he misread it and thought they were on the left. As he opened the door he realised there were no steps there, so he tried to grab the door. But as it’s quite heavy and strong winds it’s pulled him out kind of face first. To stop the brunt of the fall he put his knees and arms out, that’s what’s caused his injuries.” The witness added: “At the time we didn’t realise how bad the injuries were. The drop from that aircraft is about 35ft, so he’s lucky to be alive.
“By the time we realised how serious his injuries were there were six, seven ambulances and fire engines there.
“So we boarded him off with the medical screens and we let the paramedics do their job.
“At one point they were performing CPR on him on the tarmac, then at around 9.20am they rushed him off to the Manchester Royal Infirmary.
“We’ve heard from his friends now that he’s currently in operation. He’s had two compound fractures to his legs, both elbows are fractured, his shoulder’s dislocated.
“He’s also cracked both of his eye sockets which has put a lot of swelling on the brain.”
Multiple paramedic automobiles and ambulances from the North West Ambulance Service have been seen surrounding the aircraft on the tarmac at Manchester Airport.
The plane had been as a result of fly to Tenerife earlier than the incident occurred.
A North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) spokesperson stated: “We were called at 08.22 to reports someone had fallen from height.
“A male patient was taken to hospital to be treated for suspected serious injuries.”
Jet2 stated it’s investigating the incident, which concerned an individual working for a third-party firm.
A spokesperson for the airline stated: “We are aware of an incident that took place at Manchester Airport this morning involving an individual from a third-party provider.
“We are unable to confirm further details at present, however, can confirm that a full investigation has been launched. We are doing our best to provide support to everyone who needs it.”
A consultant for Manchester Airport confirmed ambulances had attended the scene.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/2193011/engineer-suffers-agonising-injuries-plunging-Jet2-plane