{"id":564768,"date":"2026-07-23T19:56:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T19:56:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/564768\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T19:56:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T19:56:18","slug":"michael-oleary-chided-for-commenting-on-inquiry-into-how-man-was-almost-sucked-from-plane-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/564768\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael O\u2019Leary chided for commenting on inquiry into how man was almost sucked from plane \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ryanair<\/a> group chief executive Michael O\u2019Leary<\/a> should refrain from commenting on the investigation into an accident in which a passenger was almost sucked out of a damaged aircraft window<\/a>, the organisation leading the inquiry has warned.<\/p>\n

A Boeing<\/a> 737-8AS operated by Ryanair Holdings subsidiary, Malta Air, had to return to Thessaloniki Airport this month after parts from a damaged engine hit a window.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Leary told analysts this week that initial findings from the investigation indicated that it resulted from \u201cforeign object damage\u201d, not the plane\u2019s age or servicing.<\/p>\n

However, in a letter sent on Wednesday, Jennifer Homendy, chairwoman of the US\u2019s National Transport Safety Bureau (NTSB), which is running the inquiry, said the airline chief should \u201crefrain from further public statements regarding the investigation while it is ongoing\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said Ryanair was a technical adviser to the investigation, so was obliged to take all reasonable steps to ensure information relating to it is protected from public release.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NTSB has not made any such determination and our investigators have not yet ruled out age or servicing issues as contributing to this event,\u201d Homendy said.<\/p>\n

News agency reports of O\u2019Leary\u2019s remarks, made on Monday to investors\u2019 analysts after Ryanair published financial results, prompted Homendy\u2019s rebuke. Ryanair did not comment.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ryanair\u2019s profits take \u20ac292m hit amid fallout from Iran warOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The UN International Civil Aviation Organisation designated the NTSB as the lead investigator of the incident, which occurred on a flight from Thessaloniki, Greece, to Memmingen, Germany, on July 10th.<\/p>\n

Pressure was lost in the cabin while oxygen masks were dropped as a precaution, passengers said afterwards.<\/p>\n

In a statement issued after the incident, Ryanair said the aircraft \u201creturned to Thessaloniki shortly after take-off when a passenger window dislodged in flight\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe aircraft landed normally and passengers returned to the terminal,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

Separately, Ryanair announced plans on Thursday to spend \u20ac50 million expanding its maintenance operation in Shannon Airport, creating more than 400 jobs.<\/p>\n

The airline is seeking planning permission to expand engineering at Shannon to make it Ryanair\u2019s largest aircraft maintenance facility in Ireland.<\/p>\n

\"\"Aer Lingus job cuts and Ryanair\u2019s profits plunge – what is happening in the Irish aviation sector?<\/p>\n

The \u20ac50 million investment would include a new four-bay maintenance, repair and overhaul hangar and an engineering academy, which would train more than 400 aircraft mechanics between 2027 and 2031, the airline said.<\/p>\n

Subject to planning permission, Ryanair hopes to begin construction early next year and open the facility in late 2028.<\/p>\n

Ryanair already operates a three-bay hangar. The new one will be key to ongoing investment in aircraft maintenance and engineering training across its network, the airline noted.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Michael O\u2019Leary\u2019s mega pay-day may hinge on proving Ryanair can thrive without himOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The expansion would create \u201chundreds of highly skilled engineering jobs while training the next generation of aircraft mechanics\u201d, said Eddie Wilson, chief executive of Ryanair DAC, the group\u2019s biggest subsidiary.<\/p>\n

Ryanair\u2019s investment in skills and training in Shannon \u201cis particularly significant\u201d, said Jenny Melia, chief executive of Enterprise Ireland, which is supporting venture.<\/p>\n

The airline\u2019s proposal reflects the depth of aviation expertise and engineering capability that has developed in Shannon over the decades, Shannon Airport Group chief executive Ray O\u2019Driscoll said.<\/p>\n

Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke, said the Government was committed to supporting the development of Irish multinationals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ryanair group chief executive Michael O\u2019Leary should refrain from commenting on the investigation into an accident in which…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":564769,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[12495,72,292,2917,61,60,10726,12361,1899,4504],"class_list":["post-564768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-boeing","tag-business","tag-germany","tag-greece","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-michael-oleary","tag-peter-burke","tag-ryanair","tag-shannon-airport-group"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/564769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}