Passenger nearly 'sucked out' of 'detached' window on Ryanair flight

By Renee Maltezou and Padraic Halpin

Ryanair said one of its planes was forced into an emergency landing at Thessaloniki airport in Greece shortly after takeoff on Friday after a window was "dislodged", with ​two industry sources saying a passenger was partially sucked out of it.

The airline said one person ⁠received medical assistance, but did not elaborate on the cause.

The plane was ‌scheduled ‌to ​fly from Thessaloniki to Memmingen airport in Germany but returned to Thessaloniki "when a passenger window dislodged inflight," Ryanair said in a statement.

FlightRadar24 ⁠showed a Boeing 737 ​NG jet en route to Memmingen diverted back ​to Thessaloniki on Friday morning.

The same plane had diverted back to Thessaloniki ‌on a flight to Sarajevo on Thursday ​evening, also shortly after takeoff, according to the data and a source, although ⁠it is unclear why.

Local media ⁠in Greece ​reported that a piece of engine broke off and smashed a window during the flight on Friday, causing the cabin to decompress and sucking one passenger partially out of the window. Two sources with knowledge of the incident relayed the same details to Reuters.

Ryanair did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on that account of the incident.

"The ‌aircraft landed normally and ⁠passengers returned to the terminal," Ryanair said in its statement.

Unverified videos posted on social media from the inside of the plane showed a ‌broken window and oxygen masks dangling from the ceiling.

A Greek airport source said that the aircraft ​is still on the ground in Thessaloniki and investigators are ​looking into the incident.