World3 min(s) read
Published 09:08 14 Jul 2026 GMT
Further details have been revealed about the condition of a man who was partially sucked out of a Ryanair plane window by passengers who witnessed the terrifying incident.
As previously reported, a male passenger - identified only as being a 61-year-old Serbian national - had his head and shoulders sucked out of the plane when a window dislodged, leaving his wife desperately holding onto him.
According to reports, the incident allegedly happened on a Ryanair flight on a Boeing 737-800 plane, traveling from Thessaloniki, Greece, to Memmingen, Germany.
The Daily Mail reports that the jet had been flying for around 30 minutes before it was forced to turn back and make an emergency landing back at its departure airport after a window fell out.
Tracking data shows the plane was in the air for around 10 minutes when it abruptly dropped 9,000ft (2,700m), as witnesses claimed they heard "some kind of explosion", per the BBC.
The outlet stated that a Greek hospital official claimed the man being treated was a 61-year-old Serbian national, who'd received friction burns in the incident.
German newspaper BILD stated that a window had shattered, causing the man who was sitting in the seat right by it to be partially pulled out of the aircraft.
The man's wife reportedly held onto his legs for around five minutes to stop him being pulled further out, until other passengers stepped in to help pull him back into the cabin.
A witness told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf that the man had suffered burns and was "bleeding" from his head, adding: "We thought we were falling. He had blood on his head. He fainted several times."
Another passenger, Christina, told Radio Thessaloniki: "We immediately realised there had been a decompression. There were screams... for a moment I thought someone had accidentally opened the emergency door.
"The masks dropped and there was a strong smell. The head and shoulders of one passenger were outside the window. Fortunately, he hadn't taken off his seat belt."
Sofia, another passenger on board the flight, added: "When the oxygen masks dropped, we had no idea what was going to happen. We didn't know whether we would make it back.
"We were sitting at the back of the aircraft, and we realised there had been some kind of explosion.
"We thought the plane was going down. The decompression was extreme. It felt like we couldn't breathe.
"The man who was injured was bleeding and then lost consciousness several times, most likely because of the lack of oxygen and the shock."
Ryanair said in a statement: "A Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen on Friday morning (10 July) returned to Thessaloniki shortly after take-off when a passenger window dislodged inflight.
"The aircraft landed normally and passengers returned to the terminal. One passenger requested and received medical assistance on the ground in Thessaloniki.
"In order to minimise any delay, a replacement aircraft was arranged to bring passengers to Memmingen which departed Thessaloniki at 9:53 local this morning"
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