The aircraft, an Airbus A-320, with registration G-VCED and owned by My Travel Airways, was parked at stand E22 on the aircraft parking apron at Tenerife South Airport, in preparation for a non-scheduled passenger flight that was to depart at 16:05 en route to Newcastle Airport (United Kingdom). The airport?s ground service company was requested to send a special vehicle to embark passengers with reduced mobility. At 15:30, with some 30 passengers already aboard the aircraft, three female passengers were atop the vehicle?s front platform, along with the driver, who was responsible for raising and lowering the platform, and an assistant who was helping the passengers board the airplane. At that moment the frame that held the platform to the truck broke loose from its upper horizontal and lateral braces (Figure 1), leaving a gap between the platform and the aircraft through which the three passengers fell, resulting in serious injuries to two and slight injuries to the third. The operators were able to hold on to the side rails, and one of them was even able to briefly hold on to the passenger who ended up being slightly injured. The aircraft eventually departed at 17:56, after the injured passengers were taken to a hospital, where two of them had to remain until 25 January.