A Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen in Germany was forced to turn back shortly after take-off on Friday morning after a cabin window came loose mid-air, the airline said in a statement.
Witnesses told local media that a passenger, believed to be a Serbian man in his 60s, was left hanging out of the window as far as his shoulders for several minutes. Other passengers managed to pull him back inside.
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Ryanair said the aircraft landed normally and passengers received medical attention on the ground in Thessaloniki. One passenger was taken to hospital for further checks. A replacement aircraft was arranged to fly passengers on to Memmingen several hours later. Media reports in Greece and Germany quoted passengers describing a loud bang, followed by the window breaking and oxygen masks dropping from the ceiling shortly after the Boeing 737 took off.
Some passengers believe the window was struck by debris from the jet's engine, though Ryanair has not commented on that theory. Christina, a fellow passenger, told Radio Thessaloniki there were screams onboard and that she briefly thought someone had opened the emergency door by mistake.
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Aircraft Operated By Ryanair Subsidiary Malta Air
Passengers also described a strong smell inside the cabin after the masks dropped. They said the affected passenger's head and shoulders were outside the window before he was pulled back in, and that he was fortunate not to have removed his seatbelt.
The aircraft, believed to be around 18 years old, is operated by Ryanair's subsidiary Malta Air. Ireland's aviation regulator confirmed it was aware of the incident and said it would assist Greek and Maltese authorities with their investigation. The incident has drawn comparisons to a 2018 Southwest Airlines flight in the US, where a passenger died after engine debris shattered a window and she was partially pulled outside the aircraft.
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