The wife of a passenger who was seriously injured last Friday during a Ryanair flight from Greece to Germany has described how “chaos broke out” during the incident.
Speaking to Greek public broadcaster ERT, Svetlana Maksimovic outlined the terrifying moments when her 61-year-old husband Ljubisa Karovic was partially pulled out of the aircraft after a cabin window shattered during the flight.
Mr Karovic was seated next to the window when it suddenly shattered around 30 to 40 minutes after takeoff from Thessaloniki, on a flight bound for Memmingen in southern Germany.
Ms Maksimovic said her husband was wearing his seatbelt, which prevented him from being completely ejected, while she and two other passengers managed to pull him back into the cabin as oxygen masks were deployed and panic spread among those on board the flight.
She said: “At that exact moment, he [her husband] was pulled out through the window. He was outside for a maximum of two to three minutes.
“The lady sitting next to me and I tried to put him back inside. A strong wind had pulled him out, but luckily he was wearing his seatbelt, so he didn’t fall off the seat.
“Then a man came to help us. I think he told us he was from Albania, but I’m not sure.”
Mr Karovic who is from Serbia remains in hospital in Thessaloniki with neck and shoulder injuries, friction burns and severe psychological trauma, according to his wife.
Ms Maksimovic said her husband is now wearing a neck collar, is lying in bed and not moving and she does not know when he will be discharged from hospital.
“They put a Holter monitor on him today. They needed to check his heart because they could see that something wasn’t right.
“He has to stay in the ward, but I don’t know how long for.
‘Chaos broke out’
Ms Maksimovic said her husband was “was sucked out up to his chest,” when the window shattered.
“He was outside the aircraft for about one and a half to two minutes. I was sitting behind him, and the woman sitting next to him grabbed his arm. Three of us were pulling him back inside,” she said.
She added: “The oxygen masks dropped, and chaos broke out.
“My husband lost consciousness three times. Someone tried to block the broken window with a suitcase, but it was immediately sucked out of the aircraft.”
Oxygen masks deployed and panic spread (Credit: Despoina Papapavlou)
The aircraft, a Boeing 737-800 operated by Malta Air on behalf of Ryanair, returned safely to Thessaloniki after the mid-air emergency.
Ryanair said the aircraft diverted after a passenger window became dislodged in flight, and confirmed that one passenger required medical treatment.
A replacement aircraft later flew the remaining passengers to their destination.
Greek authorities, aviation safety investigators and technical experts have launched an investigation into the cause of the incident.
Preliminary reports indicate that debris from an apparent engine failure may have struck the window, triggering rapid cabin depressurisation, although investigators have not yet confirmed the cause.
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