Emirates crew member dies after falling off aircraft’s emergency exit
off an emergency door of the aircraft parked at Entebbe international
airport in Uganda.
According to reports, the Emirates flight – EK 730 – had just
delivered passengers to Entebbe and was preparing to load other
passengers for Dubai when the incident happened on Wednesday
afternoon.
"Her knees were shattered and body cut with broken glass from a bottle
she jumped with," an eye witness at the airport was reported as
saying.
Francis Sekandi, the spokesman for the Kisubi hospital where the
female crew member was taken for emergency treatment following the
fall on Wednesday, confirmed her death.
"We received her from the Civil Aviation Authority in an ambulance,
but she was already dead," Sekandi said late Thursday.
Uganda's Civil Aviation Authority said an investigation into the
incident has been opened.
"A female member of the crew appeared to have opened the emergency
door and unfortunately fell off an Emirates aircraft that had safely
landed and parked," it said in a statement.
One witness, Isaac Seremba, who works at the airport, described the
fall from one of the stationary plane's emergency exits as an apparent
"suicide" attempt.
Local newspaper, The Daily Monitor also cited unnamed sources as
saying the woman appeared to have jumped intentionally from the plane.
"The exact cause of the incident was not yet clear but some eye
witnesses cited possible suicide. She was seen holding what looked
like a glass bottle under her chin before she made the fall.
"Other witnesses said they had seen her in a verbal exchange with
colleagues as they boarded the plane," the report said.
In an official statement, Emirates said, "a member of our cabin crew,
unfortunately, fell from an open door while preparing the aircraft for
boarding."
The airline promised to, "extend our full cooperation to the
authorities in their investigation," read a statement issued by the
Dubai-based carrier.
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