Man partially sucked out of broken plane window: report

A passenger on a Ryanair flight was partially sucked in by a dislodged window shortly after takeoff from Thessaloniki, Greece, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing, two airport sources said.

Ryanair said in a statement that the plane was scheduled to fly from Thessaloniki to Memmingen airport in Germany but returned to Thessaloniki “after the passenger window became dislodged during the flight”.

It’s unclear what led to the broken window.

The airline said one person received medical attention but did not elaborate on the cause.

A Greek hospital official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a 61-year-old man suffered neck and shoulder injuries and friction burns.

The man was pulled back into the plane by other passengers, according to the official.

Passengers told Greek media that they heard a huge explosion, their oxygen masks fell off and the plane began to lose altitude.

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

Her “entire head, neck and shoulders” were pulled out the window, she said, adding that people sitting next to her pulled her back inside.

“Most people had fallen asleep, so we had closed our eyes. We heard a noise, I would compare it to a tire burst… but it was very loud,” he said.

“We knew right away that we were losing pressure because we were losing altitude… Screams, whoops, whoops.”

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that the aircraft was a Boeing 737 NG.

Boeing had no immediate comment.

A similar incident occurred on a Boeing 737 NG in 2018, raising questions about whether this incident was related.

Local media in Greece reported that an engine part failed and a window broke early in the flight on Friday, causing depressurization in the cabin and a passenger being partially pulled out of the window.

Two airport sources with knowledge of the incident gave the same details to Reuters.

FlightRadar24 showed a Boeing 737 NG jet bound for Memmingen returning to Thessaloniki on Friday morning.

According to data and a source, the same plane returned to Thessaloniki shortly after takeoff for a flight to Sarajevo on Thursday evening, but the reason for this is unclear.

The FAA confirmed that a window was broken on Friday’s flight and said it was ready to support the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA) and NTSB in the investigation.

Ryanair uses CFM56 engines from manufacturer CFM International on all Boeing 737 NG models.

Ryanair did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on the details of the incident, as well as confirmation on the make of the aircraft and engine.

“The aircraft landed normally and passengers returned to the terminal,” Ryanair said in a statement. he said.

Unverified videos from inside the plane posted on social media showed broken glass and oxygen masks hanging from the ceiling.

A Greek airport source said the plane was still grounded in Thessaloniki and investigators were investigating the incident.

with AP