Man nearly sucked from Ryanair Jet as window blows out mid-flight
Image generated by AI.
A terrifying mid-air emergency unfolded on a Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki, Greece, to Memmingen, Germany, on Friday morning when a cabin window dislodged shortly after takeoff, nearly sucking a 61-year-old Serbian passenger headfirst into the sky.
Tracking data shows the aircraft plummeted 9,000 feet (2,700 meters) roughly ten minutes into the journey. Passengers told local radio they heard a violent "explosion" before the cabin rapidly depressurized. Oxygen masks dropped, a strong smell filled the air, and chaos erupted. “We thought the plane was going down. It felt like we couldn’t breathe,” recalled one traveler, Sofia.
In the midst of the panic, the Serbian man was blasted against the shattered window, his head and shoulders forced outside into the freezing, thin air at altitude. Fellow passenger Christina said, “His head and shoulders were outside the window. Fortunately, he hadn’t taken off his seat belt.” Even more critically, his wife clung to his legs for approximately five minutes, anchoring him against the ferocious suction until other passengers managed to haul him back inside.
The man suffered friction burns from the shattering glass and lost consciousness multiple times due to oxygen deprivation and shock, according to hospital official Michalis Giannakos. He was treated in Thessaloniki, conscious but badly shaken.
Ryanair confirmed that a “passenger window dislodged in flight,” forcing the crew to return to Thessaloniki, where the aircraft landed normally. The airline arranged a replacement plane for the remaining passengers several hours later. While local media suggested the window was smashed by debris from the jet’s own engine, Ryanair has not commented on that claim. The aircraft, an 18-year-old plane operated by Malta Air, is now under investigation by Greece’s air and rail safety authority, with support from the Irish Aviation Authority.
Retired airline pilot Chris Brady noted the outcome could have been far deadlier. “It’s exactly for this sort of thing that captains urge passengers to keep seat belts fastened even when the sign is off,” he told the BBC. The incident echoes a fatal 2018 Southwest Airlines tragedy, where a passenger was partially ejected and died after engine debris broke a window. This time, a fastened belt and a quick-thinking spouse likely made all the difference between survival and catastrophe. (Source: BBC)
