This is the terrifying moment when a Qantas employee tragically tumbles 20 feet from a plane’s airbridge onto the hard tarmac, resulting in critical injuries.
Olivia Hristovska, a 51-year-old customer experience supervisor, fell from a significant height while looking through the viewing windows on an aerobridge’s wall.
Her harrowing drop, which left her with a fractured spine and fighting for her life, was recorded on May 3 at Sydney Airport.
She also suffered a broken clavicle and a collapsed lung, before she was placed in an induced coma.
In the shocking footage, the staff member is seen approaching the gaps in the aerobridge walls with her back hunched over.
As she creeps closer, she is unaware of the fact there is a gaping hole between the floor and the wall.
She then takes a step too close, and takes a horror fall down.
Her co-worker looks absolutely baffled as he approaches the gap and realises where the other member of staff has gone.
Olivia’s daughters Monique and Sienna revealed this week they found out about their mum’s accident through doctors and the media.
They claimed that Qantas were yet to inform them of their mum’s horrifying accident.
Monique, 27, also revealed her mum has since been discharged from hospital – but is still suffering life-changing damages.
The heartbroken daughter told Nine News: “Bones can heal, but the brain… you don’t know. She’s lost her identity.”
Both Monique and Sienna are currently acting as full-time carers for their mum.
Monique previously told the Daily Mail Australia she hadn’t left her mum’s side since the traumatic accident.
She said: “We feel it’s important the full human impact of this incident is understood.
“Not just the event itself, but the long-term effects on her body, mind, and our family.”
The two daughters are now pleading for more information about the accident to be revealed, after they claimed they had been left in the dark.
Olivia is believed to have fallen through an opening where the shutter wall of the aerobridge came loose from its tracks.
She was rushed to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney’s inner west before being placed in an induced coma.
A friend said of her condition at the time: “She has bleeding on the brain and a broken collarbone, broken ribs, and probably a broken pelvis.
“She fell sideways, then backwards, and hit her head. She is not breathing on her own yet. What an absolute tragedy.”
Olivia had been working with Qantas for 14 years, according to her LinkedIn profile.
A colleague from Qantas shared on social media that those present at the airport when the shocking incident occurred were left “traumatized” by the event.
Safework NSW confirmed that investigations into the tragic incident had started and were still underway – but said that the probe could take two years to complete.
Sydney Airport told Daily Mail Australia its aerobridges were frequently inspected and serviced under a “scheduled systematic preventative maintenance program”.
