A 53-year-old air hostess with Air India suffered a nasty 20-foot fall from an aircraft on to the tarmac while she was shutting the door for take-off at Mumbai's international airport on Monday morning.

The woman (her family has requested that she not be named) was rushed to Nanavati Hospital at 7 am, with multiple fractures. As per the official statement issued by the airline, she fell from a height of 20 feet, through a gap between the rear door and the staircase used for boarding.