A man was nearly ejected from a Ryanair flight when it suddenly detached mid-air en route to Germany, according to witnesses and officials on Friday. Other passengers managed to pull him back inside.
The individual, identified as a tourist from Serbia traveling from Thessaloniki, Greece, to Memmingen, Germany, was hospitalized with friction burns but remains in stable condition, authorities reported.
“Most of us had fallen asleep, eyes closed. Then came a loud bang, like a tire blowing out,” one passenger told Radio Thessaloniki.
“Right after, we realized there was a decompression. There were screams… For a moment, I thought someone had accidentally opened the emergency door,” she added.
“The oxygen masks dropped, and there was a strong smell. One passenger’s head and shoulders were outside the window. Luckily, he hadn’t unbuckled his seatbelt,” she explained.
Other travelers nearby helped pull him back into the cabin. Greek media reports indicated the incident occurred over North Macedonia and that the window was broken by a piece of debris that separated from one of the plane’s engines.
Ryanair issued a statement saying the flight returned to Thessaloniki shortly after takeoff after a passenger window detached. The plane landed normally, and passengers disembarked at the terminal.
A replacement aircraft was provided to carry the remaining passengers to Memmingen, the airline confirmed.