Karovi\u0107\u2019s lawyer said the Serbian businessman was hauled back in after his head and right arm were sucked through the window owing to the sudden depressurisation.<\/p>\n
However, Ryanair\u2019s chief executive, Michael O\u2019Leary, said the airline would be \u201cdisputing\u201d that account, telling reporters after the airline\u2019s annual general meeting (AGM) in Dublin on Thursday that Karovi\u0107 was \u201ccertainly sucked towards the window, but he didn\u2019t get out the window\u201d.<\/p>\n
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the US is leading the accident investigation, alongside Boeing, engine manufacturer GE, and Ryanair.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Leary said: \u201cHe wasn\u2019t partially out the window. Part of his face didn\u2019t get out the window.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t think any part of his body got out the window, but he was certainly sucked in very dramatic circumstances towards the window.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael O\u2019Leary disputed the account of the air traffic control provider Nats over the reasons for the latest air traffic control failure on Tuesday. Photograph: Kuba St\u0119\u017cycki\/Reuters<\/p>\n
He said the passenger had been \u201cbelted into the seat\u201d, adding: \u201cWe will be certainly at the end of the process disputing that he or any part of his anatomy will bend out the window.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Leary said he was \u201cnot trying to downplay it\u201d and the airline would \u201chave to await the outcome of the NTSB report\u201d.<\/p>\n
In an interview with the Guardian<\/a>, Karovi\u0107 said he believed his seatbelt had kept him in the plane as he blacked out, while his wife, Svetlana, said one passenger played a crucial part in his rescue, as she watched her husband \u201chalf in and out of the plane\u201d.<\/p>\n She said the unknown passenger, believed to be Albanian, \u201cdid all he could to bring him in and then tried to block the window, first with a bag that was immediately sucked out and then with a suitcase, which worked\u201d.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a>Free newsletter | Every weekday<\/p>\n Sign up to Business Today<\/p>\n Get set for the working day \u2013 we’ll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Meanwhile, about a third of shareholders at the AGM voted against O\u2019Leary\u2019s latest pay deal, worth \u20ac150m (\u00a3129m). The package, agreed over the summer, would give him options on 10m shares if he hits profit and share price targets, and stays at the helm of the Irish carrier until 2032.<\/p>\n Ryanair said it would later publish the results of the votes, which approved the deal by about 2-1.<\/p>\n O\u2019Leary also continued to dispute the account of the air traffic control provider National Air Traffic Services (Nats) over the reasons for the latest failure on Tuesday<\/a>, which disrupted travel for hundreds of thousands of passengers flying in and out of the UK and cancelled more than 2,100 flights.<\/p>\n Martin Rolfe, the Nats boss, told the BBC on Tuesday: \u201cThis will be something we haven\u2019t seen in more than 50 years of operation.\u201d<\/p>\n Continuing his long vendetta against Rolfe, O\u2019Leary accused him of \u201ctelling lies to save his own skin\u201d.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789052172_404_500.jpg\")
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