Ryanair passenger nearly pulled through broken window during flight

A passenger narrowly escaped being sucked out of a Ryanair aircraft after a window detached during a flight from Greece to Germany, forcing the plane to return to Thessaloniki.

The passenger, identified as a Serbian tourist, suffered friction burns and was taken to hospital. Authorities said he was otherwise in a stable condition.

Witnesses said many passengers were asleep when a loud noise, similar to a tyre bursting, was heard inside the aircraft. The cabin then experienced rapid decompression, causing oxygen masks to drop as passengers began screaming.

A fellow passenger said the man’s head and shoulders were pulled through the damaged window, but his seat belt prevented him from being dragged further outside. Nearby passengers managed to pull him back into the cabin.

The incident reportedly occurred while the aircraft was flying over North Macedonia. Greek media said debris believed to have separated from one of the plane’s engines struck and damaged the window.

Ryanair said the flight returned to Thessaloniki shortly after take-off and landed normally. Passengers were taken back to the terminal following the emergency landing.

The airline arranged a replacement aircraft to transport the remaining passengers to Memmingen, Germany.