A window suddenly broke on a Ryanair passenger jet in Europe during a flight, and a male passenger was almost sucked out through the window. He survived only because his wife held tightly onto his legs, and other passengers worked together to pull him back into the cabin.
The aircraft involved was a Ryanair Boeing 737-800, which took off from Thessaloniki, Greece at 5:55 am local time on the 10th, with its destination being Memmingen, Germany. Shortly after takeoff, when the plane was at an altitude of 20,000 feet, a loud bang was suddenly heard inside the cabin, and some passengers noticed that a window had broken.
Eyewitnesses told the media that there was chaos on board after the loud bang. The man sitting by the window was caught by the airflow, “his head and shoulders were outside the broken window”, and his wife held onto his legs for a full five minutes. Other passengers also rushed to help, working together to pull him back to his seat. At that point, the oxygen masks had also deployed in the cabin.
The injured passenger is believed to be a 61-year-old man, who suffered a neck injury from the impact as well as abrasions and burns. Although he was conscious after the incident, he was badly shaken.
The plane made an emergency return and landed safely after the incident.
A Ryanair spokesperson explained that the accident was due to “a window falling off during flight”. Greek media speculated that it might have been caused by an engine part detaching and striking the window, leading to the damage.