Passenger sucked out of airplane ‘to his shoulders’ after window breaks

A passenger on a Ryanair flight was sucked halfway out of the plane after the window he was sitting next to became dislodged in midair.

The budget airline flight to Memmingen in Germany was forced to return to Thessaloniki in Greece, from where it departed on Friday morning, after a window broke soon after takeoff.

The unidentified man is thought to have been sitting by the window when he was suddenly pulled out, head-first and up to his shoulders, according to Greek public broadcaster ERT. Fellow passengers managed to hold him down and stop him being dragged out further, the outlet reported.

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The plane then returned to Thessaloniki, where the man was treated for shock and other injuries, ERT reported. Other passengers were later transferred to another flight for their onward journey, according to a statement from Ryanair.

One of the other passengers on board at the time told Radio Thessaloniki: ‘We were sitting a bit further back from where it happened, all we heard was a loud noise and then the oxygen masks dropped. The injured man was bleeding and initially fainted.”

According to flight tracking site AirNav Radar, flight FR1879 took off at 5:57 a.m. local time and landed back on the same tarmac one hour and 13 minutes later. Their data showed that the plane was an 18-year-old Boeing 737-8AS and that it turned around at a height of about 16,000 feet.

Ryanair confirmed the incident in a statement to CNN, saying: “A Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen on Friday morning (July 10) returned to Thessaloniki shortly after take-off when a passenger window dislodged inflight. The aircraft landed normally and passengers returned to the terminal.”

“One passenger requested and received medical assistance on the ground in Thessaloniki. In order to minimise any delay, a replacement aircraft was arranged to bring passengers to Memmingen, which departed Thessaloniki at 9:53 local this morning.”

An investigation has been launched by the Hellenic Air and Rail Safety Investigation Authority (HARSIA), which oversees aviation in Greece, according to a statement from Fraport Greece, which runs the airport in Thessaloniki.

“As the operator of Thessaloniki Airport, Fraport Greece is fully cooperating with all relevant stakeholders and has activated the established emergency response procedures following the aircraft’s forced return,” Fraport said. “Our teams, in close coordination with airport stakeholders and emergency services, took all necessary actions to ensure safe management of the situation.”