Air Canada passenger opens cabin door and falls out of plane before take off – forcing a six-hour delay for fellow flyers

Authorities at Canada’s busiest airport are investigating how a passenger could open the door of a jumbo jet and fall six meters to the tarmac shortly before it was set to take off.

The Air Canada Boeing 777 was scheduled to depart from Toronto Pearson International Airport for a 13-hour flight to Dubai when the man reportedly opened the cabin door shortly after boarding, causing a six-hour delay.

Images shared on social media showed emergency vehicles, including an ambulance, crowding around the nose of the plane as it sat on the terminal tarmac. Another passenger tunnel is attached to the left side of the fuselage.

Another photo shows a man sitting on the ground as airport workers in high-vis vests surround him, and someone appears to tell him to stay still.

Canadian media reported that the passenger pulled open the door himself and fell; Air Canada said “all of our approved boarding and cabin procedures were followed” before the man fell from the plane.

Airport staff, dressed in high-visibility clothing, appear to tell the man to lie still after he falls from the plane

Local law enforcement agency Peel Regional Police said the man was in a “crisis state.”

It added that he suffered “relatively minor injuries” despite falling six meters to the ground, and was taken to hospital. No charges have been filed against the man over the incident.

But Monday’s incident has raised concerns about the ease with which dangerous exits on the ground can be opened after the man reportedly walked straight to the door and opened it rather than taking a seat.

Retired air captain Ross ‘Rusty’ Aimers says aircraft cabin doors are easier to open before they are ‘armed’ – at which point the emergency sliders are automatically activated when the hatch is opened.

He told Canada’s website Global news: ‘On the ground, before it’s armed, it’s much easier to open the door. The lever you see is quite long, making it easier to open the door. That’s the design of it.’

In a statement, Air Canada said: “While boarding Toronto-to-Dubai flight AC056 on January 8, while the aircraft was at the gate, a passenger who had normally boarded the aircraft, instead of going to his seat, a cabin door on the other side of the plane.

“The passenger sustained injuries as he fell to the tarmac while emergency services and authorities attended.

‘The flight, aboard a Boeing 777 scheduled to carry 319 customers, was subsequently delayed and departed later.

‘We can confirm that all our approved boarding and cabin procedures have been followed; we continue to assess the incident.”

The incident comes days after US regulators grounded Boeing’s 737 Max 9 jets following an Alaska Airlines incident in which a door plug blew out 20 minutes into a domestic flight.

The California-bound flight took off from Portland, Oregon, but was forced to return shortly after takeoff due to the scare, which left terrified passengers clinging to their seats as the cabin depressurized.

The missing door plug – a panel used to replace an optional emergency aircraft door – was later found by a high school science teacher in his backyard.

Air Canada itself was recently in the news after being fined C$97,500 (£57,000) following an incident in which passenger Rodgney Hodgins, who has cerebral palsy, was forced to drag himself 12 rows onto a plane.

The independent reported that the Canadian Transportation Authority imposed the fine due to “several violations” of accessibility codes.