Serbian couple Ljubiša Karović and Svetlana Grković were on board a Ryanair flight when a window next to them blew out. Photo / Ljubiša Karović and Svetlana Grković
Speaking afterwards, Grković described the incident, which occurred as the couple were returning home from a holiday in Greece.
“It was as if a part of the engine broke off and hit the window next to which my husband Ljubiša was sitting,” she told Serbian broadcaster Nova.
“I reacted immediately and grabbed his legs. I thought: ‘If we die, we die together.’ It was horrible.”
In the chaos, some passengers rushed to help the couple.
Grković said two people helped almost immediately, helping her stop her husband being dragged from the plane.
“They came to help me. I remember a man and a woman. He helped us a great deal, both me and Ljubiša,” she said.
They managed to hold on to her husband’s legs for about five minutes before other passengers rushed to help pull him back into the aircraft. By that stage, oxygen masks had already deployed throughout the cabin.
A passenger on the plane told Greek broadcaster ERT that the man’s “head and shoulders were sticking out of the broken window”.
Karović remains in hospital receiving treatment for his injuries and is reportedly unable to speak, the Daily Mail reported. He is understood to have suffered severe friction burns and remains in a state of significant shock after the ordeal.
A picture of the exterior of the plane. Photo / Aviationbrk
Investigators believe the incident was triggered when a fan blade inside the aircraft’s right-side engine apparently broke loose, Greek outlet Protothema reported.
Ryanair said the flight returned to the airport after take-off after the passenger window “dislodged in-flight” and one passenger received medical attention.
The airline said one pregnant passenger was also taken to hospital as a precaution but discharged, Protothema reported.