On Friday, a Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki, Greece to Memmingen, Germany was thrown into chaos when a cabin window dislodged, nearly sucking a 61-year-old man out of the plane. Svetlana Grković, the man’s wife, recounted the harrowing experience, saying her husband Ljubisa Karović was left hanging outside the plane with half his body exposed. Grković sprang into action, grabbing her husband’s legs and holding on for dear life, thinking ‘If we die, we die together.’ With the help of two other passengers, she managed to pull Karović back inside the plane.
According to Grković, the incident occurred when part of the plane’s engine appeared to break off, smashing the window next to her husband and causing decompression in the cabin. Other passengers reported hearing a loud explosion-like sound. A technical adviser appointed by the family believes the incident started with a failure in the aircraft’s right engine, but this has not been confirmed by investigators. Karović, who kept his seatbelt on, is currently in hospital with serious injuries, including a badly injured hand and burns.
The Ryanair flight, operated by Malta Air, was in the air for about 10 minutes when it suddenly dropped 9,000ft. The aircraft, an 18-year-old Boeing 737-800, landed normally, and passengers returned to the terminal. The incident is under investigation by the Hellenic Air and Rail Safety Investigation Authority, with assistance from international aviation authorities, including Boeing, the US Federal Aviation Administration, and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.
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📰 Source: BBC World