Fellow passengers pull back man partly sucked out of broken window on flight from Greece

THESSALONIKI, Greece, July 11, (AP): Fellow passengers pulled back a man who was partially sucked out of a dislodged airplane window on Friday, a few minutes after takeoff on a flight from northern Greece to Germany. The plane subsequently returned to the airport in Greece.

The incident happened on a morning flight from the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki to Memmingen, near Munich, operated by Malta Air, a subsidiary of Ryanair, Europe’s largest budget carrier.

Ryanair said in a statement the flight "returned to Thessaloniki shortly after takeoff when a passenger window dislodged in-flight.” The 61-year-old passenger, who was not identified by name, suffered neck and shoulder injuries and friction burns, according to a Greek hospital official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly to the media.

It was not immediately clear if the injured passenger remained in hospital later Friday. Passengers told Greek media that they heard a loud bang, oxygen masks dropped and the plane began to lose altitude.

One passenger, identified only as Christina, told Radio Thessaloniki that some passengers panicked and screamed and that one passenger was partially sucked out of the window.

"His whole head, neck, shoulders” were pulled out of the window, she said, adding that those seated near him pulled him back in. "Most people had fallen asleep, we had closed our eyes.

We heard a sound, I’d describe it like a tire bursting … but very loud,” she said. "We knew straight away we lost pressure because we lost altitude." She said there were "screams, shrieks, shouting.”

The airline has not said what caused the window to dislodge, but the US National Transportation Safety Board said it was notified that the flight turned back because of "a right engine issue and cabin decompression.”

Ryanair did not immediately respond to an email request seeking comment on the engine issue. The NTSB, the US federal agency that investigates aviation and other major transportation incidents, said it was standing by to assist the investigation.

It said the probe will be led by the Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation Committee of the Republic of North Macedonia, which under international aviation rules takes the lead because the incident occurred in that country's airspace.