A flight attendant has been seriously injured after falling out the door of a parked plane.

The Finnair jet had just arrived from Oulu in northern Finland into Helsinki airport when the incident occurred.

The Airbus A320 aircraft had parked on the tarmac after landing and passengers had already disembarked.

When the plane was empty save for cabin crew, the flight attendant fell from the open back door of the aircraft.

He fell from a height of between three and four metres, reports local media.

It’s not clear why the steps weren’t attached to the aircraft.

It’s understood that the flight attendant has broken some bones, but his injuries aren’t life-threatening.

The Finnish safety authority, OTKES, tweeted that it had opened a preliminary investigation into “a serious incident involving a cabin crew member [who] fell from an Airbus A320 and was injured while in the park after a flight”.

A Finnair spokesperson told The Independent: “On Finnair flight AY450 from Oulu to Helsinki 13 January a crew member was involved in a serious occupational accident. The crew member fell from the aircraft back door to the station platform. The employee was seriously injured and transported to a hospital.

“This is a rare and very unfortunate event. For privacy reasons we cannot comment further.

“The Safety Investigation Authority is conducting an independent investigation as per usual. Finnair takes all occupational safety issues seriously and will investigate the events leading to this occurrence to ensure this will not happen again.”