A passenger on a Ryanair flight from Greece to Germany was nearly sucked out of the aircraft after a cabin window detached mid-air, forcing fellow travellers to pull him back inside, according to witnesses and officials.The passenger, identified as a tourist from Serbia, was on a flight from Thessaloniki in Greece to Memmingen in Germany when the incident occurred.He was later hospitalised with friction burns but was reported to be in stable condition, authorities said, as per news agency AFP.The aircraft was forced to return to Thessaloniki shortly after take-off following what Ryanair described as a “passenger window detachment” during the flight.Visuals circulating after the incident showed oxygen masks hanging from the ceiling and a damaged section of the cabin window area.
Passenger’s head and shoulders pulled back inside by others
A fellow passenger told Radio Thessaloniki that most people on board had fallen asleep when they heard a loud sound resembling an explosion.“Most of us had fallen asleep, we had closed our eyes. There was a noise, like a tyre bursting,” the passenger said.“We immediately realised there had been a decompression. There were screams … for a moment I thought someone had accidentally opened the emergency door,” she added.According to the witness, oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling and a strong smell spread through the cabin following the sudden loss of pressure.“The head and shoulders of one passenger were outside the window. Fortunately, he hadn’t taken off his seat belt,” she said.Other passengers sitting nearby rushed to help and pulled the man back into the aircraft.Greek media reported that the incident took place over North Macedonia and that the window may have been damaged by debris that detached from one of the aircraft’s engines.
Ryanair returns aircraft safely to Greece
Ryanair confirmed that the aircraft returned to Thessaloniki shortly after departure.“The flight returned to Thessaloniki shortly after take-off when a passenger window detached during the flight. The aircraft landed normally and the passengers returned to the terminal,” the airline said in a statement.The carrier added that a replacement aircraft was arranged to transport the remaining passengers to Memmingen.The aircraft involved was reportedly a Boeing 737, and the incident occurred shortly after the flight departed from Greece.Authorities are investigating the cause of the window detachment and whether it was linked to an engine-related failure or external debris impact.
