Watch: Passengers jump from plane after airline fails to provide staircase
The incident took place at Kindu Airport, following what witnesses described as a multi-hour ordeal inside the stationary aircraft
A disturbing safety breach involving the national carrier, Air Congo, has sparked international concern after video footage emerged on social media showing passengers jumping from the cabin door of a Boeing 737-800 to reach the tarmac, as reported by Aerospace Global News.
The incident took place at Kindu Airport (KND), following what witnesses described as a "multi-hour" ordeal inside the stationary aircraft.
Three-Meter Leap to Safety
According to reports and social media footage, the flight arrived at Kindu from Kinshasa but was unable to deboard normally due to a lack of available air stairs at the terminal. After waiting for several hours in the heat of the cabin, passengers were reportedly encouraged by ground personnel to exit the aircraft via the forward L1 door.
The door sill of a Boeing 737-800 is positioned approximately 3 to 4 meters (10 to 13 feet) above the ground. In the footage, passengers are seen handing heavy suitcases down to staff on the runway before taking the dangerous leap themselves.
Local police and ground staff in high-visibility "PISTE" vests were seen observing.
Notably, no emergency slides were deployed — a decision likely made to avoid the significant costs and operational downtime associated with slide repacking.
Air Congo is a flagship project for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, launched only in December 2024. The airline is a joint venture, with the DRC government holding a 51% stake and Ethiopian Airlines — Africa’s largest carrier — holding 49%.
The aircraft involved is one of two Boeing 737s currently on lease from Ethiopian Airlines.
While emergency slides are designed to evacuate passengers quickly, deploying them on the ground when there is no immediate danger is not a decision airlines take lightly. Slides are single-use safety devices. Once deployed, they must be removed, inspected, and either repacked or replaced entirely — a process that is both costly and time-consuming.
According to US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) estimates, replacing the entire escape slide assembly on a Boeing 737 can cost approximately $19,000 per slide, including parts and labor.
Even if the slide is undamaged, the specialized inspection and repacking process costs upwards of $12,000.
Beyond the immediate cost, an unnecessary slide deployment can ground an aircraft for hours or even days. In a remote location like Kindu, where specialized maintenance teams are unavailable, deploying a slide would likely have stranded the aircraft and all subsequent passengers indefinitely. This operational reality often leaves crews in a "catch-22" when airport infrastructure—such as air stairs—fails to appear.