Renee Maltezou, David Shepardson and Padraic Halpin
Athens/Washington: A passenger was partially squeezed through an ejected window on a Ryanair Boeing 737 shortly after takeoff from Thessaloniki in Greece on Friday, two airport sources said. The plane had to make an emergency landing.
The flight was scheduled to fly from Thessaloniki to Memmingen airport in Germany but returned to Thessaloniki “when the passenger window blew out”, Ryanair said in a statement. It is unclear what caused the window to break.
The Serbian national, who was partially sucked in through a window, was transferred to AHEPA University General Hospital in Thessaloniki but did not suffer life-threatening injuries, the Serbian consulate said, adding that doctors were determining the extent of the injuries.
Serbian media quoted a passenger as telling Radio Thessaloniki that the man’s head and shoulders were outside the plane before his fellow passengers got him back inside.
The US Civil Aviation Administration confirmed that the plane is a Boeing 737 NG – the pre-generation MAX version of the 737 aircraft.
Boeing said it was supporting the North Macedonia-led investigation into the incident. “We remain in touch and continue to support our customer, Ryanair,” the company said.
Ryanair did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on details of the incident, as well as confirmation of the aircraft’s design and engine.
“The flight landed normally and passengers returned to the terminal,” Ryanair said in a statement.
Media in Greece reported that a piece of the engine broke off and broke a window early in the flight, causing damage to the cabin. Two airport sources with knowledge of the incident sent similar details to Reuters.
A video posted on social media appeared to show an engine failure on the damaged Boeing 737 plane, with the fan blades missing. Such a malfunction occurs when internal components such as fan blades break and break the casing, sending debris flying.
Flightradar24 showed the Boeing 737 NG en route to Memmingen was diverted back to Thessaloniki on Friday morning.
The same plane had diverted back to Thessaloniki for a flight to Sarajevo on Thursday evening, also shortly after takeoff, according to the data and the source, although it is not clear why.
The FAA confirmed that a window was broken on Friday’s flight, and said it was ready to support the investigation. Serbian state television also showed the interior of the plane with a broken window.
Ryanair uses CFM56 engines from manufacturer CFM International on all its Boeing 737 NG models. CFM, a joint venture between General Electric Co and France’s Safran SA, had no comment.
Unverified videos posted on social media from inside the plane showed a broken window and oxygen masks hanging from the ceiling.
A Greek airport source said the plane was still on the ground in Thessaloniki and investigators were monitoring the incident.
Such an event happened in 2018 on another Boeing 737 NG. A fan blade on the engine of a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 NG broke off, causing a window to break that sucked
passenger killed. The 43-year-old was the first person to die in a US passenger plane crash in nine years.
After the incident, the US National Transportation Safety Board asked Boeing to redesign the fan cowl design on the 737 NG aircraft. There was an engine failure on another Southwest NG 737 in 2016.
The FAA issued an order in 2023 requiring Boeing to rebuild by July 2028.
Tammie Jo Shults, who won praise for her good behavior while traveling on the Southwest flight, said Friday she was surprised and surprised by some of the similarities.
“They have an engine that shuts down. There’s external damage. It’s not just the engine that’s stopped working and so there’s more drag,” he said in an interview.
Reuters
