Flight attendant injures spine by falling from plane through gap between cabin and stairs

A member of Xiamen Air cabin crew fell 9ft from the plane to the tarmac

A flight attendant for Chinese airline Xiamen Air fell 8.9ft from a parked plane onto the tarmac after stepping through a gap between the staircase and the cabin.

Footage captures the moment the woman fell after the plane had landed at Zhengzhou Xinzhou International Airport on the afternoon of 10 November.

Doctors found that the woman had sustained spine compression fractures as a result, reports Chinese news site iFeng.com.

The video shows the woman attempt to grab the door before letting go and falling to the ground.

The crew member fell through the gap while walking back onto the Boeing 737-800 aircraft with a tray to restock food supplies onboard, according to Xiamen Air’s initial investigation.

She was still conscious when her fellow crew members and airport staff came to her aid.

The flight had come from south-east China's Fuzhou Changle Airport and was due to have a one-hour stopover at Zhengzhou before departing for Lanzhou in the north west of the country.

Xiamen Air released a statement on 11 November on Weibo account, a Chinese social media platform, reports The Daily Mail.

It said the injured crew member was sent to hospital as soon as possible. She was found to have spine compression fractures after a CT scan and had undergone emergency surgery.

Doctors expected her to recover in a week's time but it's not clear if she would be fit to work in the field afterwards.