The wife of a passenger who was reportedly dragged toward a broken Ryanair aircraft window fought to hold onto his legs for five minutes, preventing him from being pulled farther out of the plane, according to other travellers.
Reports said the man was left suspended up to his shoulders outside the aircraft, with his head forced beyond the shattered window as the plane continued flying.
His wife is understood to have kept her grip on his legs until fellow passengers managed to haul him back inside the cabin.
As oxygen masks fell from overhead, panic spread through the cabin, with frightened passengers fearing they “wouldn’t make it” while the jet remained airborne for about 30 minutes with the window damaged.
One passenger seated toward the rear of the aircraft said they did not immediately grasp the scale of what had happened.
“We thought we were falling,” he recalled, before speaking about the injured traveller.
“There was blood on his head. He passed out several times.”
“We had oxygen masks on and had no idea whether we were going to survive,” the witness added.
The Boeing 737-800, travelling from Thessaloniki, Greece, to Memmingen, Germany, was forced to turn back and make an emergency landing at its departure airport following the dramatic incident.
A witness told the German Press Agency (dpa) that a window had shattered, as seen in videos circulating on social media.
A Ryanair passenger was allegedly sucked ‘up to his shoulders’ out of a plane window and had to be pulled back into the jet by other travellers
The injured passenger is believed to be a 61-year-old Serbian national
The jet took off from Greece on time at 5.55am local time, but shortly after takeoff at an altitude of approximately 20,000ft, a loud bang was heard on board the flight
Commenting on the incident, the president of the Panhellenic Federation of Public Hospital Employees (POEDIN) claimed there was ‘almost a tragedy’
Shortly afterwards, a man seated next to the window was reportedly ‘sucked’ through the opening, according to German newspaper BILD.
‘His head and shoulders were sticking out of the broken window,’ another witness told Greek broadcaster ERT.
The man’s wife apparently held him by his legs for about five minutes, after which fellow passengers were able to pull him back into the cabin as oxygen masks dropped down.
Ryanair spokesman told the Daily Mail: ‘A Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen on Friday morning returned to Thessaloniki shortly after take-off when a passenger window dislodged inflight.
‘The aircraft landed normally and passengers returned to the terminal.
‘One passenger requested and received medical assistance on the ground in Thessaloniki.
‘In order to minimise any delay, a replacement aircraft was arranged to bring passengers to Memmingen which departed Thessaloniki at 9.53am local this morning.’
According to publicly available flight data, the Ryanair plane landed back in Thessaloniki after one hour and 14 minutes.
The injured passenger is believed to be a 61-year-old Serbian national.
He was wounded in the neck by the impact and also sustained abrasions and burns, according to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.
The man is understood to be conscious but in a state of shock.
A pregnant woman also on board the flight was taken to hospital. According to local media, she is in good health and has since left the hospital.
Greek media is speculating that the incident was caused when part of the plane’s engine broke off, causing damage to the window
According to publicly available flight data, the Ryanair plane landed back in Thessaloniki after one hour and 14 minutes
Greek media is speculating that the incident was caused when part of the plane’s engine broke off, causing damage to the window
Greek media is speculating that the incident was caused when part of the plane’s engine broke off, causing damage to the window.
The pilot then decided to turn around and return immediately to Thessaloniki airport.
Commenting on the incident, the president of the Panhellenic Federation of Public Hospital Employees (POEDIN) claimed there was ‘almost a tragedy’.
He said the ‘damaged’ window gave way and that part of the passenger’s body was pulled outside the aircraft before he was restrained by his wife.
People on social media were quick to react to the dramatic incident, with one user writing on X: ‘That’s terrifying. Always wear your seatbelt folks.’
However, according to a fellow passenger, the man was wearing his seatbelt.
A woman who was on the terrifying flight spoke to Radio Thessaloniki 94.5 about what she witnessed.
‘A noise was heard as if a tire had burst. There was panic with screams and voices because we immediately lost altitude from the decompression,’ she said.
‘For a moment I thought someone had accidentally opened the emergency door. The flight attendants lost it. We all immediately put on our masks. It seemed like a very long time before we understood what was happening.’
Regarding the 61-year-old Serb, she added: ‘They grabbed him and held him down; fortunately, he hadn’t taken off his seatbelt.
‘His head was completely outside the plane. The girls who were next to him were pulling him. Some doctors also went to help him.’
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.
