A Ryanair passenger almost shot out of the plane after a window broke at 4,900 meters altitude
The incident took place during flight FR1879 between Thessaloniki and Memmingen, in Germany
LondonA 61-year-old passenger of Serbian origin narrowly avoided being ejected from a Ryanair plane after a cockpit window broke in mid-flight, in an incident that forced the aircraft to return to Thessaloniki Airport in Greece. The events occurred on Thursday evening on flight FR1879, which was scheduled to cover the route between Thessaloniki and Memmingen (Germany).
Witnesses cited by local media indicate that a loud explosion preceded the window breaking. The cabin decompression caused the passenger to be pulled towards the outside, but his wife held him by the legs while other travelers helped pull him back inside.
Images from after the incident show oxygen masks deployed on the cabin ceiling. A passenger, identified as Christina, told Radio Thessaloniki that after the initial noise, screams were heard, and for a few moments she thought someone had accidentally opened an emergency door. "The masks fell and there was a very strong smell. A passenger's head and shoulders were outside the window. Fortunately, he hadn't unbuckled his seatbelt," she recounted.
The man was transferred to a hospital in Thessaloniki, where he was treated for shock and burns sustained from contact with the cold outside air at high altitude, local union leader Michalis Giannakos told Greek media, cited by the Greek outlet Newsit. Flightradar24 data indicates that the plane reached an altitude of about 4,900 meters before beginning its descent towards the Greek airport, after being just over an hour in the air.
Ryanair confirmed that the plane returned to Thessaloniki "shortly after takeoff when a passenger window came off during the flight". The company assured that the landing was carried out normally and that the passenger received medical assistance on the ground. Subsequently, the airline sent a replacement plane to transport the passengers to Germany.
Aviation experts have said that the passengers' description could fit with an uncontained engine failure (uncontained engine failure), a type of incident in which internal engine parts can be ejected and damage other parts of the aircraft, including the cabin. John Strickland, an aviation analyst, explained to British media that in a situation of this kind, any fragment that detaches remains within the engine casing, whereas in an uncontained failure, the damage can affect the external structure of the aircraft.
The affected vehicle, a Boeing 737 about eighteen years old, was operated by Malta Air, a subsidiary of the Ryanair group. The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has announced that it has been made aware of the incident and will cooperate with the air safety investigation authorities in Greece and the civil aviation directorate of Malta.
The incident is reminiscent of the case of a Southwest Airlines flight in the United States in 2018, when a passenger died after fragments of a damaged engine broke a window and partial decompression sucked her out of the plane.