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Ryanair Passenger Sucked Out of Plane Window
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61-year-old passenger left dangling from the aircraft
A Ryanair passenger was pulled halfway out of a shattered window at 16,000ft after an engine fan blade snapped in mid-air, US investigators have confirmed. The blade had been weakened by metal fatigue before the flight ever left the ground.
Ljubisa Karovic, a 61-year-old Serbian national, was sitting in seat 11F on flight FR1879 from Thessaloniki to Memmingen on 10 July 2026. The Boeing 737 was operated by Malta Air, a wholly owned Ryanair subsidiary. The NTSB preliminary report sets out what happened next.
Warning signs nine minutes into the flight
As the jet climbed, pilots received a 'high vibration' warning from the right-hand engine. They reduced power and ran the emergency checklist. The vibration eased briefly, so the crew continued the climb on autopilot.
Then the vibration surged. The pilots heard a loud bang and the cabin altitude warning sounded. The crew put on oxygen masks, declared an emergency, and began an immediate descent.
Nine minutes and 30 seconds after take-off, a fragment flung from the engine struck the window next to Mr Karovic. It shattered, and he was dragged head and shoulders first through the opening.
His wife held his legs while passengers pulled him back
Mr Karovic's wife, Svetlana Grkovic Maksimovic, and other passengers grabbed his legs and hauled him back inside after roughly two minutes, BBC News reported. A passenger who was a doctor treated him in row 12 for the rest of the flight. Another passenger fetched a metal box from the galley to block the hole in the fuselage.
The crew landed back at Thessaloniki without further incident. There were 149 passengers, one infant, and six crew on board.
The explosion is what I remember. I am lucky, but mentally destroyed.
Mr Karovic suffered serious neck and shoulder injuries, friction burns, and shock. He spent around 10 days in hospital and must wear a neck brace for at least six weeks. 'The explosion is what I remember', he told The Guardian, describing himself as lucky but 'mentally destroyed'.
A cracked blade, four bird strikes, and an 18-year-old jet
The NTSB found the fan blade separated through fatigue: a crack that grows over time until the metal fails. Investigators also recovered bird remains, including feathers, from the engine, CBS News reported. The engine had suffered four suspected bird strikes in the previous 12 months.
The fragments burst out of the engine's protective casing, striking the fuselage, the right horizontal stabiliser, and the window. The aircraft was built in 2008. The NTSB has not ruled out age and service history as factors.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary publicly suggested foreign object damage before investigators had reported. The NTSB warned him for breaching investigation protocols. Ryanair has declined detailed comment until the investigation ends.
The last time this happened, the passenger died
On 17 April 2018, a fan blade failed on Southwest Airlines flight 1380 over the United States. Debris broke a cabin window and passenger Jennifer Riordan was partially pulled out. Fellow passengers dragged her back inside, but she died from her injuries. That case led to tougher engine containment standards.
The Ryanair aircraft has been repaired and is back in service, Flightradar24 tracking data shows, including flights to and from the UK. The full NTSB report and any safety recommendations are still to come, with the FAA, Boeing, GE Aerospace, and EASA all party to the investigation.
