In brief
During a short flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen, a Ryanair aircraft suffered a sudden cabin depressurisation after a window dislodged. The husband’s head and shoulders were exposed to the outside, leaving him half‑outside. His wife, assisted by other passengers, managed to pull him back before he lost consciousness. The incident, roughly ten minutes into the flight, prompted the aircraft to return to Thessaloniki and is under investigation with international aviation authorities. The husband is seriously injured and remains hospitalized.
A woman who held her husband’s legs as he was almost sucked out of a Ryanair cabin window on Friday said he was "outside up to his chest" for two minutes.
Svetlana Grković, travelling with her husband Ljubisa Karović from Thessaloniki to Memmingen, told Greek broadcaster ERT that a piece of the plane’s engine had broken off, smashed a window and caused a rapid loss of cabin pressure.
In the emergency, Grković grabbed the man’s legs and, with two other passengers, pulled him back before he lost consciousness, saying he had thought "If we die, we die together".
The incident knocked the aircraft 9,000 ft (2,700 m) lower within about 10 minutes, the airline said, and the flight returned shortly after take‑off and landed normally. One passenger received medical help on the ground in Thessaloniki.
The 61‑year‑old husband remains hospitalized and is in a serious but still hopeful condition. Investigators from the Hellenic Air and Rail Safety Investigation Authority are examining the crash, aided by Boeing, the FAA and the EASA as the aircraft was a U.S.‑built Boeing 737‑800 and the incident occurred over North‑Macedonian airspace.
Passengers reported an explosion, screams and a feeling that the aircraft was about to descend, but the moment of decompression was brief and the pilot managed a controlled emergency landing.
