On 10 July a Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki, Greece, to Memmingen, Germany, suffered a catastrophic engine fan‑blade failure. The incident resulted in a fragment of the engine smashing a cabin window, pulling the head and right shoulder of Serbian passenger Ljubisa Karović out of the aircraft.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released a preliminary report stating the failure occurred shortly after takeoff on the flight’s right‑hand engine. The crew received a high‑vibration alert, cut power, and performed checks before resuming the climb. Despite reduced thrust, the vibrations intensified, a loud bang was heard, and the crew declared an emergency descent.
Crew and passengers reported seeing a small amount of smoke before the oxygen masks deployed. A flight attendant observed the damaged window and heard a passenger crying for help when the passenger’s head and shoulder became partially lodged in the opening.
Karović’s wife Svetlana Grković Maksimović recounted how she and two other passengers held his legs for several minutes while he was trapped. The aircraft landed safely at Thessaloniki International Airport, where the NTSB was delegated full investigative authority.
The aircraft was operated by Ryanair’s subsidiary Malta Air. Prior ultrasonic inspections conducted on the engine in May found no faults. Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary suggested that foreign object damage might have caused the failure, but the investigation is still ongoing.
