Emirates crew 'jumps off' plane at Entebbe Airport in Uganda

The injured crew member lying on the ground after the fall. PHOTO | COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • She had been 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.

A crew member of an Emirates Airlines aircraft due to depart Uganda's Entebbe International Airport on Wednesday sustained serious injuries after jumping off the emergency door. 

The Flight, EK 730, had just delivered passengers to Entebbe and was preparing to load other passengers for Dubai when the incident happened, said a source at the airport. 

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The yet-to-be-identified crew member, was immediately evacuated and taken to hospital with life threatening injuries.  

The exact cause of the incident was not yet clear, but some witnesses cited possible suicide.

She had been 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.

“Her knees were shattered and body cut with broken glass from a bottle she jumped with,” a witness at the airport said.

When contacted, Mr Vianney Luggya, the Principal Public Affairs Officer at the Civil Aviation Authority, confirmed the incident.

In a press statement, Civil Aviation Authority said the crew " opened the emergency door and unfortunately fell off..." without explaining how.