My sincerest condolences to the family also... I, like many other current and former cabin crew, have seen instances where doors have been left with no warning barrier, open without steps. I myself was stood on some steps once when they were taken away after I'd gone out to get some sun. Of course, in spite of a CSR being filed, this all seemed quite funny at the time. It's scary to think of the consequences of what can happen.
Another point to note, many ground crew also forget that after placing steps against an aircraft, the a/c level will often rise significantly after passengers have left the aircraft. This can often result in a rather large step that boarding passengers have to climb up to board the aircraft. I had a situation where an elderly man boarded and shortly afterwards we spotted a trail of blood leading back from D2L to his seat in row 20. Upon investigation, we found a gap of about 2 feet between the top of the steps and the door ledge. He'd bashed his leg climbing in and burst some varicose veins - he'd not wanted to create a problem so just ignored it, we were subsequently delayed after the crew insisted than an ambulance be called to take him to hospital due to the severity of the wound and his age.
To those who think flying is unsafe, it's often more unsafe than you might think just staying on the ground. Everybody needs to be alert to what's going on, in the words of the great CAA 'Safety is no accident'........
Safe flying all,
FJ2k