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Ryanair Flight Returns After Cabin Window Detaches and Passenger Is Partially Ejected

Greek investigators have opened a probe to determine whether detached engine debris struck the fuselage and caused the rapid decompression.

Overview

  • The Malta Air-operated Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen turned back and landed safely after a cabin window dislodged on Friday morning, triggering oxygen masks to deploy and a rapid descent.
  • Witnesses and footage show a 61-year-old Serbian passenger had his head and shoulders pushed partly outside the opening before his wife and nearby travellers held and pulled him back into the cabin.
  • The injured man was taken to hospital in Thessaloniki with friction burns, neck wounds and shock and was reported conscious and stable; a small number of other passengers received precautionary checks.
  • Ryanair provided a replacement aircraft that departed later the same morning to complete the journey and the affected plane remains on the ground in Thessaloniki for inspection.
  • The Hellenic Air and Rail Safety Investigation Authority has opened a formal inquiry and Greek media and some industry sources say an engine fragment may have hit the window though that possible cause has not yet been confirmed.