During preflight a B757 flight attendant notices a five inch gap between the jet bridge and the airc...

Narrative:

Upon boarding to our flight our crew noticed a five inch gap between the airplane and the jet bridge. The purser informed the gate agent we needed that fixed as we were already aware of a toddler on our flight. The agent said there is nothing they can do and the mother should be holding his hand. The purser then asked her to at least make an announcement of the gap. I was at door two and a woman holding her toddlers hand began to board. The mother let go of the little boys hand since she was holding three bags. The little boy was in front and as soon as he stepped on he walked right into the gap and fell down up to his chest. His legs were dangling above a fifteen foot drop. If it wasn't for his arms extended out and his size he would have fallen to the ground. I ran over and grabbed his arms. Under the circumstances his mother was quite calm for what could have transpired. I and the purser were very attentive to them through out the flight. Had the agent listened to us this never would have happened. This incident could have been fatal.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: During preflight a B757 Flight Attendant notices a five inch gap between the jet bridge and the aircraft and asks the gate agent to correct the problem. The problem was not corrected and during boarding a toddler fell into the gap.

Narrative: Upon boarding to our flight our crew noticed a five inch gap between the airplane and the jet bridge. The purser informed the gate agent we needed that fixed as we were already aware of a toddler on our flight. The agent said there is nothing they can do and the Mother should be holding his hand. The Purser then asked her to at least make an announcement of the gap. I was at door two and a woman holding her toddlers hand began to board. The mother let go of the little boys hand since she was holding three bags. The little boy was in front and as soon as he stepped on he walked right into the gap and fell down up to his chest. His legs were dangling above a fifteen foot drop. If it wasn't for his arms extended out and his size he would have fallen to the ground. I ran over and grabbed his arms. Under the circumstances his Mother was quite calm for what could have transpired. I and the purser were very attentive to them through out the flight. Had the agent listened to us this never would have happened. This incident could have been fatal.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	976806
Time
Date	201110
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B757-200
Flight Phase	Parked
Person 1
Function	Flight Attendant (On Duty)
Qualification	Flight Attendant Current
Events
Anomaly	Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown

During preflight a B757 flight attendant notices a five inch gap between the jet bridge and the aircraft and asks the gate agent to correct the problem. The problem was not corrected and during boarding a toddler fell into the gap.