A 61-year-old Serbian passenger remains in hospital with friction burns after being nearly pulled through a shattered window on a Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen, as Greek and US aviation authorities launch an investigation

Moments of sheer terror unfolded on Ryanair flight FR1879 from Thessaloniki to Memmingen, Germany, when a passenger was nearly sucked out of the aircraft after a window detached mid-flight.

According to passenger accounts, the 61-year-old Serbian national found himself with his head and shoulders outside the fuselage, while his wife and fellow passengers held him back until they managed to pull him back inside the cabin.

Panic breaks out minutes after take-off

The Boeing 737-800, operated on behalf of Ryanair by its Maltese subsidiary Malta Air, departed Thessaloniki at around 6.13am local time on Friday. Flight-tracking data showed the aircraft begin a rapid descent to around 16,000 feet roughly 10 minutes after take-off, following a sudden loss of cabin pressure.

Passengers told local media they heard a loud bang, immediately after which the oxygen masks dropped and panic set in.

“We realised immediately that there had been a decompression. There were screams, and for a moment I thought an emergency door had opened,” a fellow passenger said.

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Head and shoulders outside the aircraft

According to eyewitnesses, the man, seated by the window, was violently dragged toward the opening that had formed, causing his head and shoulders to hang outside the aircraft.

“Fortunately, he hadn’t unbuckled his seatbelt,” one passenger said, adding that his wife held his legs for around 5 minutes until other passengers rushed to pull him back into the cabin.

Another passenger said the decompression was so severe that people struggled to breathe, while the injured man was bleeding and repeatedly lost consciousness, most likely due to a lack of oxygen and shock.

Damaged engine on Ryanair’s Boeing 737-800

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Footage circulating on social media showed damage to one of the aircraft’s engines, from which metal debris is reported to have been ejected, striking and shattering a cabin window next to where passengers were seated, causing the sudden decompression.

Treated for friction burns

Michalis Giannakos, president of the Panhellenic Federation of Public Hospital Employees (POEDIN), said the 61-year-old Serbian man was being treated for friction burns and was in shock, though he remained fully conscious.

Ryanair’s statement

Ryanair confirmed that the flight returned to Thessaloniki shortly after take-off after a passenger window dislodged in flight. The airline said the aircraft landed normally and passengers returned to the terminal, with one passenger receiving medical assistance on the ground. A replacement aircraft was arranged to take the remaining passengers on to Memmingen, departing Thessaloniki later that morning.

Causes under investigation

According to passengers, the window may have been struck by engine debris, though Ryanair has not confirmed this. The aircraft, delivered to Ryanair in 2008 and therefore around 18 years old, was operating the route on behalf of Malta Air.

Fraport Greece, which operates Thessaloniki’s Makedonia Airport, said the incident is being investigated by the Hellenic Air and Rail Safety Investigation Authority (HARSIA), with all relevant authorities cooperating to establish the circumstances. The US National Transportation Safety Board said it would also assist with the inquiry.

Seatbelt prevented the worst

Former airline pilot Chris Brady said the outcome could have been far more serious had the passenger not been wearing his seatbelt. He noted that the standard advice to keep seatbelts fastened even after the sign is switched off exists precisely for cases of sudden turbulence or unforeseen events such as this one.