A passenger was partially sucked through a dislodged window on a Ryanair flight shortly after takeoff from Thessaloniki, Greece, on Friday, according to two airport sources. The incident forced the aircraft to make an emergency landing back at Thessaloniki. The plane was en route to Memmingen, Germany, when the window dislodged inflight, Ryanair confirmed in a statement. The airline stated that one person received medical assistance but did not elaborate on the cause. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed the aircraft was a Boeing 737 NG. Boeing did not immediately comment.
Details of the Incident
Local media in Greece reported that a piece of the engine broke off and smashed a window early in the flight, causing cabin decompression and partially sucking a passenger out. Two airport sources with knowledge of the incident relayed the same details to Reuters. FlightRadar24 data showed a Boeing 737 NG jet diverted back to Thessaloniki on Friday morning. The same plane had diverted back to Thessaloniki on a flight to Sarajevo on Thursday evening, shortly after takeoff, for unclear reasons, according to data and a source.
Investigation Underway
The FAA confirmed the window breakage and said it is ready to support the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the investigation. Ryanair uses CFM56 engines from CFM International on all its Boeing 737 NG models. Ryanair did not respond to an emailed request for comment on details of the incident or confirmation of the plane and engine make. Unverified videos on social media showed a broken window and oxygen masks dangling from the ceiling. One Greek airport source said the aircraft remains grounded in Thessaloniki as investigators look into the incident.
Precedent in 2018
In 2018, a fan blade in the engine of a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 NG broke, causing a broken window that partially sucked out a passenger who was killed. That was the first U.S. passenger airline fatality since 2009. After that incident, the NTSB called on Boeing to redesign the fan cowl structure on 737 NG planes. An earlier engine failure on another Southwest 737 NG in 2016 prompted regulators to require more frequent fan blade inspections, every nine to 12 months. The 2018 accident occurred 20 minutes into a flight from New York's LaGuardia Airport when a fan blade fractured due to a fatigue crack on a Boeing 737-700 powered by two CFM International CFM56-7B engines. CFM International, a joint venture between General Electric and Safran, did not comment.
