Ryanair's Boeing 737 Integrated Stairs Pose Higher Fall Risk, Italian Study Finds

Ryanair's Boeing 737 hides a hazard just outside the cabin door: its retractable onboard stairs.

Passengers who have used them have faced a significantly higher risk of falling than those using stairs provided by airports. That is the conclusion of a study by Italy's National Agency for Flight Safety (ANSV), published in August 2026.

The study analysed falls reported in Italy during boarding and disembarkation between 2023 and 2025. Of 104 incidents, 85 involved passengers who used the forward integrated stairs of Boeing 737 aircraft, accounting for 82% of cases, according to Corriere della Sera.

The scale of the figures is even clearer when set against total passenger numbers. Over the same period the Irish airline carried around 27% of all passengers in Italy. The other carriers, which make up the remaining 73%, recorded 19 falls between them.

The trend is not confined to Italy. Since 2021 Ryanair has registered 489 falls on stairs, 360 of them, or 73%, on the Boeing 737's integrated stairway. According to ANSV, that is three times as many falls as those recorded on airport stairways.

To track and analyse the incidents, ANSV used the ECCAIRS system, the digital platform run by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The system collects and analyses aviation safety data from EU countries.

Why the stairs are riskier

For disembarkation, airlines often hire mobile stairs from airports. Ryanair's Boeing 737 instead has the option of an integrated system that can be deployed while parked, allowing passengers to disembark without airport handlers. This cuts disembarkation times and ground-service costs.

The integrated stairway has 12 steps, about 61 centimetres wide and 20 centimetres high, with a tread depth of 25 centimetres and an inclination of 35 degrees.

ANSV's investigation found the dimensions "are at the limits for step height and steepness" compared with those used by airport operators, "who have lower steps and, usually, a less pronounced inclination, and platforms and treads that are considerably larger."

It also notes that the first step of the stairway is asymmetrical for passengers on the way down because of the shape of the fuselage in relation to the step.

According to Ireland's air accident investigation unit (AAIU), EU regulations do not impose requirements on the size of integrated stairs because they are not deemed critical to flight operations.

ANSV's study began with three incidents in Genoa, Venice and Bologna, in which three people suffered "serious injuries".

In Genoa on 22 March 2025, one person was taken by ambulance to hospital after a fall that occurred "most likely due to the inattention of the passenger," according to ANSV's reports.

Two days later in Venice, another passenger suffered serious injuries after falling from the integrated stairs. According to staff, the passenger was carrying two suitcases and was not holding the handrail. In the Bologna incident, the passenger also fell while carrying two bags.

After these incidents, Ryanair updated its disembarkation protocol, and since 23 July cabin crew have been repeating the warning to use the handrail also in the language of the country of origin and destination.

The problem with the integrated stairs on the Boeing 737 had already been examined by the aviation safety agencies of Ireland and Spain (CIAIAC) after falls in 2021 in Dublin and in 2024 in Alicante.

Following those incidents, the Spanish agency urged Boeing to redesign the stairway, reducing its steepness and increasing the surface area of the steps. CIAIAC also called on Ryanair to abandon use of the integrated system and rely solely on stairs provided by airport operators.