An engineer who fell 35ft from a passenger plane at Manchester Airport today is “lucky to be alive”, a witness said. The worker, believed to be in his 60s, plunged out of the back left door of a Jet2 aircraft at around 8.05am.
He is believed to have broken both legs, fractured both elbows, dislocated his shoulder and broken both eye sockets. Speaking to the Sun, the witness, who works at the airport, said: “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 realized 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 realize how bad the injuries were. The drop from that aircraft is about 35ft, so he's lucky to be alive.
“By the time we realized 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 vehicles and ambulances from the North West Ambulance Service were seen surrounding the plane on the tarmac at Manchester Airport.
The aircraft had been due to fly to Tenerife before the incident happened.
A North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) spokesperson said: “We were called at 08.22 to report that someone had fallen from a height.
“A male patient was taken to hospital to be treated for suspected serious injuries.”
Jet2 said it is investigating the incident, which involved a person working for a third-party company.
A spokesperson for the airline said: “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 representative for Manchester Airport confirmed ambulances had attended the scene.