A woman has taken to social media to slam FlySafair after her mother tripped and fell while disembarking from a plane at Cape Town International Airport.

Belinda Maritz said on May 26, she was flying to Cape Town with her mother and daughter.

"When disembarking from the back, my mom, carrying Kara, slipped and fell through the opening on the side between the plane and steps platform. Kara went flying through the gap while my mom was halfway from the platform and hanging in the air," she said.

"How she managed to grab and hold onto Kara, only God knows," Maritz added.

She said she ran to them, not knowing if her daughter had fallen to the ground.

"Thank God she was there, hanging from my mom's hands. I screamed for help and started pulling Kara up to safety," she said.

In another post, Maritz said she thought Kara had died.

"In a moment, I thought my child had died and that when I looked over the side, Kara would be lying on the ground. That picture haunts me every night," she said.

Maritz said she had yet to hear from the airline.

Speaking to IOL, a spokesperson for FlySafair said the investigation results have been shared with Maritz.

She reported the incident on May 27 via the FlySafair Facebook channel and was responded to on the same day.

"There was further correspondence from FlySafair on May 28, which was also shared with Belinda via Facebook. The matter was then investigated internally, and a follow-up Facebook message was sent to Belinda on June 15 with an update on the matter," the airline said.

On June 21, FlySafair said they tried to contact Maritz telephonically to share the investigation outcome.

"After being unable to reach her telephonically, an email was sent to the contact email address she provided us, sharing the findings of the investigation. We have subsequently, on July 6, received a legal request based on the PAIA Act from Belinda Maritz’ lawyer. We are currently dealing with the matter in terms of this request," FlySafair stated.

"Safety remains critically important to us, and as such we take all incidents very seriously and will further be responding to her lawyer in terms of the latest request," the airline said.

IOL