'If we die, we die together': Wife of man nearly sucked out of Ryanair plane speaks of ordeal

Image source, Facebook/Karovic Ljubisa Image caption, The pair were returning from holiday in Thessaloniki, Serbian media reports By Rachel Flynn Published 5 minutes ago A woman who held the legs of her husband as he was nearly sucked head-first out of a Ryanair cabin window on Friday said "half of his body was sticking out of the plane." Svetlana GrkoviÄ, who was travelling with her husband Ljubisa KaroviÄ from Greece's Thessaloniki to Germany's Memmingen, told Greek public broadcaster ERT he was "outside up to his chest" for two minutes. "I immediately reacted and grabbed his legs. I thought: 'If we die, we die together,'" GrkoviÄ told Serbian outlet Nova. With the help of two other passengers, GrkoviÄ said she was able to pull her husband - who she said lost consciousness three times - back inside. GrkoviÄ said it seemed like part of the plane's engine had broken off, smashing the window next to her husband and causing decompression in the cabin. Other passengers also reported hearing what sounded like an explosion. A technical adviser appointed by the family believes the incident began with a failure in the aircraft's right engine, causing debris to strike and shatter the cabin window before the rapid loss of cabin pressure. That assessment has not been confirmed by investigators. Passengers earlier told local media that KaroviÄ had kept his seatbelt on, helping those on board keep hold of him while his head and shoulders were outside. Svetlana GrkoviÄ said her 61-year-old husband is "seriously injured and in shock". "It's important to me that he's alive... his hand is particularly badly injured, and he's got burns. He's not able to communicate, he doesn't remember the whole event," she said. The Ryanair flight was in the air for about 10 minutes, tracking data shows, when it abruptly dropped 9,000ft (2,700m). In a statement, Ryanair said its Friday morning flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen returned "shortly after take-off when a passenger window dislodged in flight". "The aircraft landed normally and passengers returned to the terminal. One passenger requested and received medical assistance on the ground in Thessaloniki," the Irish budget airline said. To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. This video can not be played Figure caption, Watch: Inside Ryanair plane flying with dislodged window "We immediately realised there had been a decompression. There were screams... for a moment I thought someone had accidentally opened the emergency door," Christina, a fellow passenger, told Radio Thessaloniki. Another passenger, Sofia, told Radio Thessaloniki: "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." The aircraft - believed to have been an 18 year-old-plane - was operated by Ryanair's subsidiary Malta Air. Thessaloniki

Kathy

This terrifying incident raises serious questions about airline safety protocols and the responsibility of manufacturers to ensure passenger safety. How can we trust airlines with such critical life-saving equipment when human lives are at stake? What happens when the safety features themselves become the danger? This isnt just about one bad decision, its about systemic failures that put passengers at risk.

Jul 14, 2026 9:45 am