A Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki, Greece to Memmingen, Germany, suffered a severe decompression when a cabin window dislodged during take‑off.
According to the wife of the injured passenger, Ljubisa Karović, the train of events began as the aircraft lost 9,000 feet (2,700 m) in about ten minutes.
In the chaos, the passenger’s head and shoulders appeared to pull the half of his body out of the cabin as if caught by a sudden suction, and for two minutes his upper body was outside the aircraft.
"I immediately reacted and grabbed his legs. I thought: ‘If we die, we die together,’" said Svetlana Grković, who pulled her husband back aboard with help from other passengers.
Karović suffered multiple losses of consciousness during the incident and sustained serious injuries, including burns and a severe hand injury. He is now in hospital in Greece.
Ryanair confirmed that the aircraft landed normally after return to Thessaloniki and that one passenger received medical assistance on the ground.
Investigators have linked the incident to a failure in the right engine, which allegedly caused debris that shattered the window and triggered the rapid loss of cabin pressure; however, the exact cause remains unconfirmed and is under investigation by the Hellenic Air and Rail Safety Investigation Authority and international aviation bodies such as the FAA and EASA.
Passengers reported sounding explosions and screaming, and witnesses described a frightening feeling of sudden loss of oxygen.
The event has raised concerns over window integrity during take‑off and how airlines manage decompression scenarios.
