A passenger on a Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki, in Greece, to Memmingen, in Germany, was partially pulled out of the aircraft when a cabin window shattered shortly after take-off.
What happened
About eight minutes after departure, as the Boeing 737-800 was climbing through around 15,000 feet, a window on the right side of the cabin broke, including both its inner and outer panes. The sudden loss of pressure pulled the passenger sitting next to it towards the opening, with his head outside the aircraft. His travelling companions managed to pull him back inside.
Oxygen masks dropped, and the pilots descended and returned to Thessaloniki, where the plane landed safely about an hour after it had departed.
The injured
The passenger was taken to hospital and was expected to recover. Three other people were also taken to hospital for checks and were released shortly afterwards.
The cause
The cause has not been officially confirmed. Initial reports suggested that the aircraft suffered an engine failure shortly after take-off, and that debris may have struck the window. An investigation is expected to establish exactly what happened. The aircraft, operated on behalf of Ryanair by its subsidiary Malta Air, was around 18 years old.
A reminder of 2018
The incident recalls a 2018 accident on a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737, in which a fan blade broke off, debris smashed a window and a passenger was partially pulled out and later died. Following that accident, US regulators required changes to engine fan blade inspections and to the design of the engine cowlings on that generation of 737.
Safety advice
- Keep your seatbelt fastened whenever you are seated, even when the sign is off.
- Pay attention to the safety briefing, especially on using oxygen masks.
- Put your own mask on before helping others.
Incidents like this are extremely rare. Aircraft are designed to cope with sudden decompression, and crews are trained to descend quickly to an altitude where passengers can breathe normally — as happened on this flight.
