A passenger on a flight from Toronto to Dubai opened a cabin door shortly after boarding an Air Canada aircraft and fell onto the tarmac at Pearson International Airport on Monday.
The carrier said a passenger, who had boarded Flight AC056 "normally," did not proceed to their seat after boarding, but instead opened a cabin door on the opposite side of the aircraft. They proceeded to fall roughly 20 feet and onto the tarmac while the plane, a Boeing 777, was still at the gate of the Toronto airport. Peel Regional Police and Peel EMS responded to the incident.
A spokesperson for Peel Regional Police confirmed the incident to Newsweek. Police received a call around 9 p.m. ET on Monday that a man opened an aircraft door while the plane was not moving and fell onto the tarmac. When authorities arrived, the man was apprehended and taken to the hospital to be treated for injuries.
The police told Newsweek that its investigation determined the individual was "in a state of crisis" and that they suffered minor injuries. The status of their current condition is unclear.
The flight, which was scheduled to carry 319 passengers, was delayed and departed six hours later as a result of the incident. According to Air Canada's website, the plane was scheduled to depart from Toronto at 8:35 p.m. ET on Monday but did not take off until around 3 a.m. ET on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA), which operates Pearson Airport, confirmed that it was aware of the incident and said it is working with Air Canada and local authorities at this time.
Air Canada said it is reviewing the incident.
"We can confirm all of our approved boarding and cabin operating procedures were followed," the airline said in a statement.
Newsweek reached out to Air Canada via email for comment.
In 2018, an Emirates Airline flight attendant died after falling out of an emergency door of the same aircraft type—Boeing 777—while the plane was parked at a gate at the Entebbe International Airport in Uganda.
That same year, an Air India flight attendant was also hospitalized after falling onto the tarmac at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai as she was closing the door of a Boeing 777 during the pushback from the gate. She sustained serious injuries including fractures in both heels and soft tissue injury in her chest, abdomen and lower spine.
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Katherine Fung is a Newsweek reporter based in New York City. Her focus is reporting on U.S. and world politics. ... Read more
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