Ljubiša Karović, from Serbia was partially sucked out a Ryanair window after the damaged engine detached and struck a cabin window causing him to be partially sucked out due to the pressure
04:58, 14 Jul 2026Updated 05:02, 14 Jul 2026
Ljubiša Karović, from Serbia, was travelling with his wife, Svetlana Grković(Image: facebook)
The wife of a man who was sucked out of a Ryanair jet window at 20,000ft has described her battle to save him.
On Friday July 10 Ljubiša Karović, from Serbia, was travelling with his wife, Svetlana Grković, on a Ryanair flight when horror struck. After taking off at 5.55am local time in Greece, the pilot noticed a problem with the engine over North Macedonia and decided to return to Thessaloniki.
It was during the descent that part of the damaged engine detached and struck a cabin window, causing 61-year-old Ljubiša Karović, from Serbia, to be partially sucked out due to the pressure.
Ryanair issued a statement regarding the horror flight from Thessaloniki to Munich, during which a window of the aircraft was broken.
Ljubiša was left hanging outside the aircraft while his wife, Svetlana Grković, clung to his feet. Now Ms Grković has described the ordeal in the air, which took place as she and her husband were heading back from a summer holiday in Greece.
She told Nova: ‘It was as if a part of the engine broke off and hit the window next to which my husband Ljubiša was sitting. I reacted immediately and grabbed his legs. I thought: “If we die, we die together.” It was horrible.'”
Ms Grković said she would like to thank the heroic passenger in person after he helped save her husband’s life.
Mr Karović remains in hospital and is believed to be unable to speak due to his injuries. He also has friction burns and is in a state of severe shock. His wife said his hand is badly injured and he also has a series of burns.
She recalled that he lost consciousness several times during the incident and cannot remember much of what happened.
A Ryanair statement read: “A Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen on Friday morning (10 July) returned to Thessaloniki shortly after take-off when a passenger window dislodged inflight. The aircraft landed normally and passengers returned to the terminal.
“One passenger requested and received medical assistance on the ground in Thessaloniki. In order to minimise any delay, a replacement aircraft was arranged to bring passengers to Memmingen which departed Thessaloniki at 9:53 local this morning.”