Man’s ‘whole head, neck, shoulders’ sucked out of plane when window broke after takeoff

A Ryanair Boeing 737 approaches for landing in Lisbon, at sunset, Tuesday, June 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

THESSALONIKI, Greece — A man who was partially sucked out of a dislodged window on a flight from Greece to Germany on Friday was pulled back inside the aircraft by fellow passengers.

The 61-year-old passenger suffered neck and shoulder injuries and friction burns, according to a Greek hospital official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly to the media.

The incident happened on a morning flight from the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki to Memmingen, near Munich, which was operated by Ryanair subsidiary Malta Air. Ryanair, Europe’s largest budget carrier, said in a statement the flight “returned to Thessaloniki shortly after take off when a passenger window dislodged in-flight.”

Passengers told Greek media that they heard a loud bang, oxygen masks dropped and the plane began to lose altitude.

One passenger, identified only as Christina, told Thessaloniki radio that some passengers panicked and screamed and that one passenger was partially sucked out of the window.

“His whole head, neck, shoulders” were pulled out of the window, she said, adding that those seated near him pulled him back in.

“Most people had fallen asleep, we had closed our eyes. We heard a sound, I’d describe it like a tire bursting, … but very loud,” she said. “We knew straight away we lost pressure because we lost altitude. … Screams, shrieks, shouting.”

The plane landed normally and passengers returned to the terminal, and one passenger requested and received medical assistance on the ground in Thessaloniki, the airline said in a statement. A replacement aircraft was later provided to fly the passengers to Germany.

The National Transportation Safety Board, the U.S. federal agency that investigates aviation accidents and other major transportation incidents, said it was notified that the flight turned back because of “a right engine issue and cabin decompression.”

The agency said it is standing by to assist in the investigation, which will be led by the Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation Committee of the Republic of North Macedonia.

The aircraft was a Boeing 737-800, which can seat up to 189 passengers. The narrow-body plane was delivered new to Ryanair in 2008, according to flight-tracking site Flightradar24.

Flight records show that the aircraft climbed past 15,000 feet (4,570 metres) about six minutes after departure and then immediately descended to about 6,000 feet (1,830 metres) “to burn fuel for 30 minutes” before returning to Thessaloniki about an hour after taking off, Flightradar24 said.

Costas Kantouris, The Associated Press

Associated Press writer Rio Yamat contributed to this report from Las Vegas.