A passenger was partially sucked through a shattered window on a Ryanair flight when a piece of the right engine broke loose
A Ryanair Boeing 737-800 lost a window in flight after an engine failure on July 10, partially ejecting a passenger who was held inside by his wife and fellow travelers until the plane returned to Thessaloniki.
What happened on flight FR1879
Ryanair flight FR1879 took off from Thessaloniki, Greece, bound for Memmingen, Germany, around 06:00 local time on July 10. The aircraft, a Boeing 737-800 operated by Ryanair's subsidiary Malta Air, had been climbing for roughly 30 to 40 minutes when passengers heard a sound like a tire bursting. A fragment from the right engine had detached and struck a cabin window, shattering it instantly. The sudden decompression pulled a passenger seated next to the window outward, leaving his head and shoulders outside the fuselage. The plane was overflying North Macedonia at the time, having already reached around 15,000 feet.
The fight to hold on
The passenger, later identified as 61-year-old Serbian national Ljubiša Karović, was still strapped into his seatbelt, which witnesses and authorities say helped prevent a full ejection. His wife, Svetlana Grković, was seated beside him. She grabbed his legs and, together with other passengers who rushed to help, held him for about five minutes while the cabin remained depressurized.
I reacted immediately and grabbed his legs. I thought to myself: if we die, we die together. It was terrible.
Grković, speaking to Nova News as reported by the Daily Mail, also thanked one person in particular whom she credited with saving her husband's life. Karović lost consciousness several times during the ordeal and later recalled only vague memories of it.
Emergency return and injuries
With the cabin depressurized and oxygen masks deployed, the pilot turned the aircraft back toward Thessaloniki. The plane had to burn fuel before landing, a standard procedure when returning shortly after takeoff. An emergency landing was completed safely, and passengers were taken back to the terminal. Ryanair provided a replacement aircraft to complete the journey to Memmingen.
Karović was hospitalized in Thessaloniki. Authorities described his condition as not life-threatening, though he suffered severe hand injuries, friction burns, and head injuries, and was admitted in a state of shock. His wife reported on July 14 that he remained in hospital.
He has severe injuries to his hand and several burns.
Investigation and aircraft details
North Macedonia is leading the investigation because the event occurred in its airspace. The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has named an accredited representative ready to assist, along with technical advisors from the FAA, Boeing, and GE Aerospace. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) appointed its own technical advisor on July 13. The FAA confirmed it is prepared to support the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority and the NTSB.
- Flight FR1879 departs Thessaloniki for Memmingen.
- Engine fragment breaks window; passenger partially ejected.
- Pilot initiates emergency return to Thessaloniki.
- Aircraft lands safely; injured passenger hospitalized.
- EASA appoints technical advisor; NTSB names US representative.
The aircraft involved was a Boeing 737-800 (737NG) delivered to Malta Air in 2008. According to AirFleets, it was fitted with two CFM56-7B26 engines built by CFM International, a joint venture between GE Aerospace of the United States and Safran of France. Boeing has acknowledged the incident and said it is in contact with Ryanair. CFM International and Safran did not immediately respond to AFP's requests for comment.
Ryanair described the event in a statement as a passenger window that "became dislodged in mid-flight, shortly after takeoff," and confirmed that passengers had been flown onward to Germany.
