Collapse of jet bridge injures seven people at airport

This photo provided by Lynn Krugman shows emergency personnel responding after an "equipment failure" involving a jet bridge at Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Photo / AP

Partial equipment failure involving jet bridge at #BWI Gate E-10. BWI Fire & Rescue Dept responded, along w/ mutual aid. Preliminary info indicates 6 individuals transported to local hospitals w/ non-life-threatening injuries.

— BWI Marshall Airport (@BWI_Airport) December 30, 2018

Seven people were injured at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport when a jet bridge collapsed, a spokesman with the Federal Aviation Administration said today.

The incident occurred after staff aboard a Southwest Airlines flight reported a "medical emergency" involving a sick passenger shortly before landing, the official, Gregory Martin, said.

Four medics, two Southwest employees, and the sick passenger were injured when the jet bridge collapsed, causing them to fall from the ramp, while the passenger was being removed from the plane.

A jet bridge is the enclosed ramp that funnels passengers from the terminal to the aircraft. The plane was at gate E-10, according to the FAA official.

The seven people were taken with injuries that were not life-threatening to local hospitals, and the rest of the passengers deplaned via the stairs.

"The next thing you know, there was a crash," the Baltimore Sun quoted one passenger, Kelsey Traub, 20, as saying. Afterward, the people on the flight remained "pretty calm," she added.

Officials say the accident was due to a "partial equipment failure".

The airport says the plane has been moved and there have been no further impacts to airport operations. An investigation is ongoing.

- additional reporting AP