New footage from inside a Ryanair aircraft has revealed the terrifying moments after a passenger was partially pulled through a shattered cabin window during a flight.
Ljubisa Karovic, 61, had been seated in 11F on the service from Thessaloniki, Greece, to Memmingen, Germany, when his right shoulder, arm and head were reportedly forced outside the aircraft about 20 minutes after takeoff on July 10.
The aircraft was understood to be flying at around 16,000ft when broken engine components struck and smashed the cabin window, triggering a sudden decompression that dragged Mr Karovic toward the opening as his wife fought to keep hold of him.
Video obtained by 60 Minutes Australia shows stunned passengers clutching oxygen masks to their faces while wind roared through the cabin and fragments of glass were hurled through the air.
The footage also captures people seated near Mr Karovic rushing to restrain him as they struggled to stop him being pulled farther out of the aircraft. The desperate effort is believed to have continued for as long as two minutes before he was finally hauled back inside.
Among those who tried to save him was 33-year-old Eleni Kyranou, who said she held onto Mr Karovic with every bit of strength she had.
‘I did what I could to help a person, to save a life,’ she told the program.
‘But it still haunts me, the images and the sound has stayed with me.’
Ljubisa Karovic (pictured being held by passengers) was half-sucked out of a Ryanair flight from Greece to Germany on July 10
Mr Karovic (above) spent up to two minutes outside the aircraft and suffered injuries to his neck and shoudlers
Sofia Lavou managed to film the horrific incident. She’d believed the plane was going to crash and hoped the footage would help bring closure.
‘I said, ‘If I’m going down, at least I will have some proof of what happened’,’ Ms Lavou said.
The Daily Mail spoke to Mr Karovic two weeks after the ordeal, during which he had spent six days in hospital.
He said: ‘I only remember hearing the explosion, not much else. I can remember sitting in my seat and was looking forward to seeing my brother because the whole family was getting together to surprise him for his 60th birthday.
‘I fell asleep quite quickly as I usually do on flights. Then there was this deafening explosion, which startled me.’
Witnesses describe him as dangling diagonally out of the aircraft ‘like Superman flying through the air’, as the wind lashed his face, contorting it out of shape as if he was a cartoon character.
Ljubisa said he now suffers with acute neck and shoulder pain, and had to wear a neck brace for six weeks. Doctors warned him that he may require an operation if the pain continues.
He was also treated for burns to his face and right hand and arm caused by the high velocity wind lashing his upper torso.
Preliminary reports from investigators suggest broken engine parts shattered the window (above)
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the US is leading the investigation into the incident.
The move is in line with international aviation rules, as the Boeing jet was assembled in America.
A preliminary report from the agency has found the fan blade broke – though the reason for this has not yet been determined.
Maintenance records show the blades in the right engine had been inspected in May 2026 and November 2025, with no damage found.
But flight crews had reported four suspected bird strikes to the same engine over the previous year, according to the NTSB.
Bird remains were found after two of them.
Ryanair earlier this month said it would not comment further until the NTSB investigation is complete.
