El Periódico reports that a Ryanair customer shattered her leg after falling down the aircraft steps while attempting to exit.
The low-cost airline has been ordered to compensate woman with $33,000.
According to the judge’s ruling, the staircase on the plane “was especially narrow and steep.”
According to El Periódico on Wednesday, Ryanair was compelled to reimburse a passenger $33,000 after she injured her leg twice while boarding.
According to El Periódico, the unidentified woman had traveled with the Irish low-cost airline from Seville to Alicante in Spain in February 2020 to see her baby grandson.
She reportedly shattered her tibia and fibula when she slipped and fell while she was trying to escape the plane, tumbling all the way down the stairs from the second step before being transported to the hospital for surgery.
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The majority of Ryanair’s fleet consists of Boeing 737 aircraft, and the airline makes use of built-in staircases that extend from beneath the exits. By doing so, the low-cost airline is able to avoid paying airport fees for jet bridges or stair cars.
However, the Ryanair plane’s staircase “was especially narrow and steep,” according to the judge at the Commercial Court of Seville, El Periódico.
The woman, who spent three days in the hospital and underwent two surgeries, asked for 31,230 euros ($33,595) in the case; however, she actually obtained slightly less than that amount because reimbursement for her lodging and medication costs was denied, according to Europa Press.
Her claim was based on the Montreal Convention, which states that unless airlines can show the passenger was irresponsible, they are responsible for any passenger injuries sustained while aboard an aircraft, during takeoff or landing, or while in transit.
