Incident Overview
Description
After landing, a family with children, consisting of two adults, a four-year old and eight-month old baby were the last passengers remaining in the cabin. The pilots allowed the four-year old to look into the cockpit and after the brief visit the family were to disembark from the aircraft. The other passengers had already disembarked. The co-pilot, who saw that the male family member had many bags to carry, offered to help him. He then took some bags and went out through the forward exit. The father remained in the cabin with the rest of the bags. The mother, who had the smaller child in her arms, asked the four-year old whether he would hold her hand or descend the stairs by himself. The four-year old decided to go down by himself. The mother descended in front of the four-year old so that she would be able to catch him if he tripped forward down the steps. The cabin crew were in the rear part of the aircraft. The co-pilot, who was standing at the foot of the stairs facing the aircraft, said that he saw how the four-year old, who was holding the lower handrail, lost his balance and fell feet first out through the gap between the lower handrail and the steps. The mother said that the boy intended to get hold of the lower handrail but lost his balance and fell through the gap between the lower and upper handrails. The four-year old fell down to the ground, cushioning the fall somewhat with his hands, but his head struck the concrete aircraft parking area. The height of the fall was about 150 cm.
Primary Cause
Possible misjudgment or distraction of the four-year-old while holding the lower handrail.Possible misjudgment or distraction of the four-year-old while holding the lower handrail.Share on:
