Ryanair passenger 'sucked out of smashed cabin window up to his shoulders’

[Jimini]

Ryanair passenger sucked out of smashed cabin window ‘up to his shoulders’ as wife & bystanders rush to save his life

A RYANAIR passenger was “sucked up to his shoulders” out of a cabin window after it was smashed open by pieces of the jet’s broken engine.

The wife of a 61-year-old Serbian man stopped him being yanked out of the Boeing 737 by pinning him down for five minutes until bystanders rushed in to help.
The aircraft was en route to Memmingen, Germany, after departing from Macedonia airport in Thessaloniki, Greece, this morning at 5:55am.

But it returned after about an hour when passengers reportedly heard a deafening bang as the jet’s windows were shattered.
The Serbian man was “sucked” into the air from his seat as horrified bystanders started panicking and screaming, according to witnesses.

But as soon as the windows broke, the passenger’s wife wrapped her arms around him and held him down – effectively saving his life.
She is said to have grappled onto him for about five minutes – before fellow passengers jumped in to help tug his body back to safety.

His head and shoulders were “sticking out of the broken window”, a stunned witness told Greek outlet ERT.

Another witness told local media “his head was completely outside of the plane”.

The man was left wounded following the five-minute nightmare and suffered burns.

 

[Watershed]

I wonder if he was wearing a seatbelt? If so, that's quite concerning. If not, then whilst I certainly have sympathy with him for his injuries, it is reiterated on every flight that you should always wear your seatbelt when seated... Lots of people seem to think it's just a suggestion.

 

[edwin_m]

AFP on Yahoo is probably a better source than the Sun: https://uk.yahoo.com/news/man-nearly-sucked-detached-window-100709419.html

"The masks dropped and there was a strong smell. The head and shoulders of one passenger were outside the window. Fortunately, he hadn't taken off his seat belt."

Greek media reported the incident had occurred over North Macedonia, and said the window had been broken by a piece of debris that detached from one of the plane's engines.

 

[AndrewE]

Apparently this happens more frequently than is usually acknowledged - which is why they say "keep your seatbelt on" even if there is no turbulence expected...

 

[Jimini]

Passenger 'nearly sucked out of window mid-air' on Ryanair plane

Ryanair confirm a passenger was given medical treatment after an incident on a Malta Air flight, which is owned by Ryanair.

www.bbc.co.uk

The BBC now have a report up on this subject, for those who prefer a non-Murdoch link!

A passenger was reportedly nearly sucked out of a cabin window in mid-air on a Ryanair plane.

Witnesses told local media the man, said to be a Serbian citizen in his 60s, was left hanging head first out of the window as far as his shoulders for several minutes, before other passengers on the flight managed to pull him back inside.

In a statement, Ryanair said its Friday morning flight from the Greek city of Thessaloniki to Germany's Memmingen returned "shortly after take-off when a passenger window dislodged inflight".

It continued: "The aircraft landed normally and passengers returned to the terminal. One passenger requested and received medical assistance on the ground in Thessaloniki."

The Irish budget airline added that "a replacement aircraft was arranged to bring passengers to Memmingen" several hours later.

Media reports in Greece and Germany quoted passengers describing a loud bang followed by the window breaking and oxygen masks falling from the ceiling shortly after the Boeing 737 had taken off.

They believe the window was smashed by pieces of the jet's engine - although Ryanair has not commented on this.

"We immediately realised there had been a decompression. There were screams... for a moment I thought someone had accidentally opened the emergency door," Christina, a fellow passenger, told Radio Thessaloniki.

"The masks dropped and there was a strong smell. The head and shoulders of one passenger were outside the window. Fortunately, he hadn't taken off his seat belt."

The aircraft - believed to have been an 18 year-old-plane - was operated by Ryanair's subsidiary Malta Air.

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) later told the BBC that it "is aware of the incident involving a Ryanair group aircraft, registered and operated by Malta Air, departing Thessaloniki this morning".

"The IAA will provide any requested assistance to the aviation safety investigation authority in Greece and the Maltese Civil Aviation Directorate, to aid their investigation," it said.

In 2018, a passenger died when debris from a damaged engine caused a window to break on a Southwest Airlines flight in the US, and she was partially sucked out.

 

[speedy1]

Not to downplay it but doesn't "hanging head first out of the window as far as his shoulders" just mean his head was out the window?

"...managed to pull him back inside" – was "he" really outside?

 

[MarlowDonkey]

Apparently this happens more frequently than is usually acknowledged -

It was how James Bond disposed of the baddie in the film Goldfinger back in 1964.

 

[westv]

I wonder if he was wearing a seatbelt? If so, that's quite concerning. If not, then whilst I certainly have sympathy with him for his injuries, it is reiterated on every flight that you should always wear your seatbelt when seated... Lots of people seem to think it's just a suggestion.

He might have been about to get up/sit down after the loo.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I wonder if he was wearing a seatbelt? If so, that's quite concerning. If not, then whilst I certainly have sympathy with him for his injuries, it is reiterated on every flight that you should always wear your seatbelt when seated... Lots of people seem to think it's just a suggestion.

To be fair the reason for this is that you might bang your head in turbulence (and I did once).

One should be able to expect the airframe's integrity to remain intact and not to need to mitigate against it failing to do so. That's a basic expectation!

737 windows are pretty small though, so barring a larger hole developing or the door falling off (yes, we know) the risk would only be to a small child of ending up entirely outside. My shoulders would certainly not fit through an aircraft window aperture.

 

[brad465]

He might have been about to get up/sit down after the loo.

According to the above article, he still had his seatbelt on, which means had he had it off, he could easily have been fully sucked out.

 

[Bletchleyite]

According to the above article, he still had his seatbelt on, which means had he had it off, he could easily have been fully sucked out.

To be sucked fully out of a 737 window you'd have to be pretty skinny (or a small child), they are very small.

 

[GB]

Lots of people seem to think it's just a suggestion.

That’s because it is.

 

[YorkRailFan]

This story reminds me of Southwest Flight 1380 in 2018. An engine cowl was broken during an engine failure which damaged the fuselage and broke a window. This happened at a much higher altitude than the Ryanair plane and a passenger was also partially sucked out of the window during a decompression of the aircraft. Unfortunately, the passenger didn't make it. Thankfully in this case, no one lost their lives.

 

[Strathclyder]

Puts me in mind of British Airways Flight 5390 in 1990 where a improperly installed cockpit window on a Birmingham - Málaga flight seperated from it's frame, causing a explosive decompression and partially sucked the captain out. The frame and cabin crew held him in place for about 20 minutes while the First Officer landed at Southampton.

 

[edwin_m]

This story reminds me of Southwest Flight 1380 in 2018. An engine cowl was broken during an engine failure which damaged the fuselage and broke a window. This happened at a much higher altitude than the Ryanair plane and a passenger was also partially sucked out of the window during a decompression of the aircraft. Unfortunately, the passenger didn't make it. Thankfully in this case, no one lost their lives.

There was also a BA pilot sucked out of the cockpit some years ago, because they'd used the wrong bolts when replacing the window. His harness prevented him going out fully, but the airflow was too strong for him to be pulled back in until they were able to land, and he suffered a fair amount of frostbite.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

What engines are on this aircraft?

 

[speedy1]

What engines are on this aircraft?

CFMI CFM56-7B26

CFM International CFM56 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Silly Franco-American engines

 

[AlterEgo]

Apparently this happens more frequently than is usually acknowledged - which is why they say "keep your seatbelt on" even if there is no turbulence expected...

Are you suggesting that a person can be sucked out of an open window and it just doesn't get reported on? The reason for seat belts being on is because of the risk of unexpected clear air turbulence.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

As Delta calls it “unexpected rough air”

 

[mpthomson]

Apparently this happens more frequently than is usually acknowledged - which is why they say "keep your seatbelt on" even if there is no turbulence expected...

No it doesn't. It's incredibly rare which is why it made news outlets all round the world. The last recorded incident of something like this is the BA pilot nearly 40yrs ago.

In terms of uncontained jet engine failures in an aircraft in commercial service at the time this is only the 6th incident since 1980, and the last was in 2010.

 

[Bletchleyite]

No it doesn't. It's incredibly rare which is why it made news outlets all round the world. The last recorded incident of something like this is the BA pilot nearly 40yrs ago.

In terms of uncontained jet engine failures in an aircraft in commercial service at the time this is only the 6th incident since 1980, and the last was in 2010.

Indeed. The reason they tell you to keep your seatbelt on is to keep you in your seat (and from banging your head on the ceiling) in the not entirely unlikely event of turbulence. I never used to bother, then exactly this happened, and now I do

It has nothing to do with failures of the airframe which are extremely unlikely.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Jul 2026 ==

In terms of uncontained jet engine failures in an aircraft in commercial service at the time this is only the 6th incident since 1980, and the last was in 2010.

Was this an uncontained engine failure? I thought it was just a faulty window that failed due to the pressure cycles.

 

[mpthomson]

Was this an uncontained engine failure? I thought it was just a faulty window that failed due to the pressure cycles.

No and wasn't referring to it as such, it's the last recorded incident of someone being partially sucked out of a window on a commercial flight.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

No and wasn't referring to it as such, it's the last recorded incident of someone being partially sucked out of a window on a commercial flight.

Southwest Airlines flight 1380, April 2018 was the most recent incident... I think the BA Captain was the most recent prior to that?

 

[Ted633]

In terms of uncontained jet engine failures in an aircraft in commercial service at the time this is only the 6th incident since 1980, and the last was in 2010.

There have been plenty more uncontained failures than that! Just off the top of my head.

BA 777 in Vegas in 2015
AA 767 in Chicago in 2016

It's not exactly a regular occurrence, but there have certainly been more than 6 since 1980.

 

[mpthomson]

There have been plenty more uncontained failures than that! Just off the top of my head.

BA 777 in Vegas in 2015
AA 767 in Chicago in 2016

It's not exactly a regular occurrence, but there have certainly been more than 6 since 1980.

Those two weren't in flight at the time

 

[ainsworth74]

The NTSB (the Greek authorities delegated responsibility in full to the NTSB) have published the interim report today into this accident.

History of Flight
According to the flight crew, while climbing through an altitude of about 16,000 ft, near Polykastro, Greece, (about 4.5 nm south of the Greek border with Northern Macedonia) they received a No. 2 engine HIGH VIBRATION indication. They reduced the engine power and initiated the Engine High Vibration non-normal checklist. Shortly after, the engine vibration indication was reduced. The crew subsequently continued the climb on autopilot.

The engine vibrations then increased significantly, they heard a loud bang, and the autopilot was disengaged. While assessing the engine condition, the cabin altitude warning sounded. The flight crew donned their oxygen masks, declared an emergency, and began an immediate descent.

The flight attendants (FAs), who were preparing for cabin service, reported hearing and feeling a loud continuous vibration and seeing a small amount of fog/smoke before the oxygen masks dropped. One reported hearing an automated public address system announcement saying “emergency descent”. Another recalled manually making an additional decompression announcement.

The FAs recalled that passengers had donned their oxygen masks. FA2 and FA4 initially sat down in the forward jumpseats and donned their oxygen masks, however FA4 moved to the galley to use another mask after the one above the jumpseat detached from the overhead.

FA1 noticed some passengers were standing up and asking for help and responded to assist. The FA noticed that the passenger in seat 11F was partially lodged in a damaged cabin window, and that the entire window was missing. Other passengers were assisting and managed to pull the injured passenger back into the cabin. The FA then sat in seat 11B and donned an oxygen mask. That mask became detached and the FA used a different one.

A passenger went to the forward galley and asked the FA2 and FA4 for something heavy and metal to try and block the broken cabin window hole and retrieved a metal box to bring back to row 11.

The injured passenger was subsequently moved to row 12 and was attended to by a
passenger who was a doctor throughout the remainder of the flight. The doctor asked for first aid equipment, and FA1 retrieved the forward first aid kit.

The FAs communicated with the flight deck, confirmed the flight crew were ok, and were informed of the engine failure, decompression, and the intent to return to SKG with an estimated time enroute of 20 minutes.

The FAs also received instructions to secure the cabin, which they did. The flight crew later informed them when the oxygen masks were no longer necessary. After descending below 10,000 ft, the flight crew secured the No. 2 engine and returned to SKG uneventfully. The airplane remained on the runway for an inspection and then proceeded to the gate, where first responders were waiting.

Airplane Examination
Examination of the airplane revealed that the No. 2 engine, an CFM International (a joint company between Safran Aircraft Engines and GE Aerospace) model CFM56-7B26, experienced a fan blade separation that resulted in engine fragments striking the fuselage and the right horizontal stabilizer. The pressurized section of the fuselage was penetrated 1) through the passenger cabin window located at row 11, as well as 2) lower lobe fuselage skin behind the right wing-to-body fairing, see figures 2 and 3. Additional impact damage was found on the right wing-to-body fairing, a dent with paint smearing on the fuselage window belt skin, a dent on a stringer common to the dented fuselage window belt skin, a gouge on the right horizontal stabilizer upper skin and a dent on the right horizontal stabilizer leading edge.

DCA26FA274.aspx

www.ntsb.gov

 

[Tetchytyke]

Several oxygen masks “detached.” Is that normal? Sounds bad.

 

[mpthomson]

The NTSB (the Greek authorities delegated responsibility in full to the NTSB) have published the interim report today into this accident.

DCA26FA274.aspx

www.ntsb.gov

Sure I saw something about feathers and bird remains being found in the engine as well.

 

[ainsworth74]

Sure I saw something about feathers and bird remains being found in the engine as well.

You did but I decided against quoting that bit as the NTSB didn't make any conclusions as to the relevance or otherwise of the presence of feathers in the engine just sending them for further examination (carried by hand, so presumably someone had some interesting hand luggage! ). Whereas the bits I did quote seemed nice and factual so seemed more suitable to be quoted at this stage.

Several oxygen masks “detached.” Is that normal? Sounds bad.

Yes that stood out to me as well. Perhaps in the high andrenaline of the moment people were tugging them too hard? Eitherway seems like something that might need to be looked into. On this flight it presumably wasn't full so people and FAs were able to use alternative masks but if the flight had been fully loaded?

 

[ainsworth74]

We seem to be getting somewhat side tracked onto SouthWest 1380 so that has now been moved to a dedicated thread found here.