Wife of passenger pulled from Ryanair window recounts rescue efforts

A woman whose husband was partially sucked out of a Ryanair flight mid-air described the harrowing moments she and other passengers fought to pull him back inside as the aircraft descended, with the man’s upper body exposed to the elements and severe injuries reported. The incident occurred on a flight from Thessaloniki, Greece, to Germany, when a window dislodged after part of the plane’s engine broke off and struck it, causing rapid decompression.

Svetlana Maksimovic, the wife of 61-year-old Ljubisa Karovic, recounted how the couple were seated on the flight when a loud bang shattered the cabin’s calm. She turned to see her husband already “lodged halfway out of the plane,” his head and right arm dangling through the shattered window. “I got up and unfastened my seatbelt,” she said. “The woman sitting next to him was holding onto his arm. I went over to help her, but we just didn’t have the strength.” A man from across the aisle joined the effort, and together they managed to pull Karovic back inside, though his upper body was “severely disfigured,” with blood covering the cabin.

Maksimovic described the chaos as oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling and the plane’s altitude plummeted. She grabbed her husband’s legs, vowing, “If we die, we die together.” Passengers reported hearing screams and feeling the plane’s violent drop, with one traveler recalling the sensation of “not being able to breathe.” Karovic lost consciousness multiple times during the ordeal, according to Maksimovic, who also noted his face was “completely disfigured” and his hand severely injured. He was later hospitalized in Thessaloniki with neck and arm injuries, though his condition remained critical.

The incident unfolded shortly after takeoff, with the aircraft diverting to Thessaloniki for an emergency landing. Greek authorities called it a rare event, attributing the window failure to a piece of engine debris striking the cabin. Boeing, the plane’s manufacturer, confirmed it was assisting an investigation led by North Macedonia, where the incident occurred. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency are also involved, alongside a Greek prosecutor and air accident investigators.

Ryanair, which operates the flight under its subsidiary Malta Air, confirmed the window dislodged during the journey but declined to comment further, citing the ongoing inquiry. The airline arranged a replacement aircraft to transport remaining passengers to their destination, though one traveler received medical attention on the ground. Maksimovic criticized the lack of immediate assistance from flight attendants, who she said were “at the front of the aircraft wearing oxygen masks” and did not intervene. She called for accountability, stating, “Someone should be held accountable for what happened.”

Passengers described the moment of decompression as “extreme,” with one noting the cabin’s pressure drop felt like a “tyre bursting.” Another recalled seeing a mother clutching her child so tightly she “thought she would suffocate him.” Karovic’s legal adviser, Vassilis Tsiaras, emphasized the severity of the incident, stating, “What happened was extremely serious.” The couple’s lawyer is awaiting the investigation’s findings, which could determine whether the airline or other parties bear responsibility.

As the investigation continues, the focus remains on the cause of the engine part’s failure and whether safety protocols were adequate. For Maksimovic, the trauma of the event lingers. “The consequences remain for him and for me,” she said. “How we’re going to heal and how long that treatment will last, we’ll see.” Meanwhile, the man who helped pull her husband back into the cabin—described as Albanian by Maksimovic—has become an unsung hero in the story, with the wife vowing to find him to express her gratitude.