Russian investigators are probing an accident during boarding of a Ural Airlines aircraft at Barnaul which involved the failure of a mobile airstair.
Surveillance video images purported showing the 12 February event indicate that the top platform of the airstair suddenly collapsed while passengers were entering the forward left-hand door of the Airbus A320.
The West Siberian transport division of the federal Investigative Committee states that six passengers fell from the vehicle to the ground, four of whom were hospitalised after suffering a “varying severity” of injuries.
It says the accident occurred at around 07:20 local time as the A320 prepared for a flight to Moscow Domodedovo.
“Investigative tasks are being conducted, aimed at establishing all the circumstances,” says the committee, adding that it has opened a criminal case over the matter, based on provision of services that do not meet safety requirements.
Ural Airlines was involved in a previous airstair boarding accident at St Petersburg in September 2017 when two passengers fell from a collapsed platform as they disembarked an A321.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
