A harrowing mid-air incident occurred on a Ryanair flight when a passenger was reportedly nearly sucked out of a cabin window. Witnesses indicated that the man, identified as a Serbian citizen in his 60s, was left hanging head-first out of the window as far as his shoulders for several minutes. Fellow passengers on the flight were able to intervene and pull him back to safety inside the cabin.
Ryanair confirmed that the flight, which departed from the Greek city of Thessaloniki bound for Memmingen, Germany, on Friday morning, returned to its origin shortly after take-off. The airline stated that a “passenger window dislodged inflight” and the aircraft landed normally. One passenger requested and received medical assistance upon returning to the terminal in Thessaloniki, and the airline subsequently arranged a replacement aircraft to transport the remaining passengers to their destination several hours later.
Passengers aboard the Boeing 737 reported hearing a loud bang shortly after take-off, followed by the window breaking and oxygen masks deploying from the ceiling. Many on board believe the window was smashed by debris from the jet’s engine, although Ryanair has not issued a comment regarding this specific cause. Christina, a passenger who spoke to Radio Thessaloniki, described the scene: “We immediately realised there had been a decompression. There were screams… The head and shoulders of one passenger were outside the window. Fortunately, he hadn’t taken off his seat belt.”
The flight was operated by Malta Air, a subsidiary of Ryanair, using an aircraft believed to be 18 years old. The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has confirmed it is aware of the incident and will provide assistance to aviation safety investigation authorities in Greece and the Maltese Civil Aviation Directorate. This event draws parallels to a 2018 incident in the United States, where a passenger died after a window broke on a Southwest Airlines flight due to engine debris, leaving her partially sucked out of the plane.
The aircraft – believed to have been an 18 year-old-plane – was operated by Ryanair’s subsidiary Malta Air.
Md. Kazi Bijoy is a dedicated tech enthusiast and content creator with a passion for digital innovation. With years of experience in the tech industry, he specializes in breaking down complex topics into easy-to-understand guides. When he isn’t writing, he explores the latest gadgets and researches emerging trends in the digital world.