MUMBAI: A senior woman flight attendant of Air India fell off a plane at the Mumbai airport as it was preparing for a flight to New Delhi on Monday. 53-year-old Harsha Lobo fell off a stationary Air India plane while closing its door, suffering serious injuries. As the Boeing 777 aircraft was preparing to depart for the national capital, Lobo fell on the tarmac from a height of 20 feet, apparently through a gap between the rear door and the step ladder.

Lobo suffered multiple fractures including a compound fracture in the right leg, both heels, soft tissue injury in chest, abdomen and lower spine and a cervical sprain. The incident occurred at around 6 am, PTI quoted an airline official as saying. Lobo was rushed to the Nanavati Hospital where she is being treated, the airline said. Owing to the incident, the flight AI-864, scheduled to take off at 7 am, got delayed by about one-and-a-half hours.

"In an unfortunate incident, one of our cabin crew (member), Harsha Lobo, fell down on the tarmac from the Boeing-777 aircraft door while closing it," PTI quoted the airline as saying in a statement.

The statement said Air India is inquiring into the incident.

"Though full investigation will establish the reasons for the incident, prima facie it seems there was a gap between the aircraft gate and the step ladder, through which she slipped off 20 feet down on the tarmac," an official of the airline said.

The airline's safety department has called all the people related to the incident on Tuesday as part of its probe, the official added.

The Nanavati Hospital said a cabin crew member of the Air India flight was brought to the hospital at 7 am after she suffered "serious injuries".

"The patient is suffering from right leg compound fracture, fracture in both heels and soft tissue injury in chest, abdomen and lower spine. She also suffered a sprain in, the neck (cervical spine)," it said in a statement.