Credited from: SCMP
A passenger on a Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki, Greece to Memmingen, Germany experienced a near-fatal incident when a window detached mid-flight, causing them to be nearly sucked out of the aircraft. Fellow passengers intervened to pull the individual back inside, as reported by witnesses and media sources. The passenger, identified as a tourist from Serbia, suffered friction burns and was hospitalized, but authorities confirmed he was in stable condition, according to SCMP and India Times.
Witnesses described the moment of terror when they heard a loud noise, likened to a tire bursting, signaling a rupture in the cabin pressure. "Most of us had fallen asleep... We immediately realized there had been a decompression," a fellow traveler recounted, with oxygen masks deploying due to the sudden loss of cabin pressure. Other passengers rushed to assist, pulling the man back into the aircraft just in time, according to reports from India Times, BBC, and CBS News.
The Ryanair flight, operated by its subsidiary Malta Air, returned to Thessaloniki shortly after takeoff due to the incident. Ryanair confirmed that a replacement aircraft was arranged for the remaining passengers. Greek media reported that debris from one of the plane's engines might have caused the window to detach, raising questions about the aircraft's safety features, as highlighted by BBC and CBS News.
This incident is reminiscent of previous instances in aviation history, including a tragic case in 2018 where a passenger died after being partially sucked out of a window due to similar circumstances. Aviation experts have noted that not wearing a seatbelt during such incidents can result in severe consequences due to the drastic pressure difference in the cabin, a concern reiterated in reports from CBS News.