A window exploded after a Ryanair flight took off from Thessaloniki, Greece, trapping a passenger inside. The latter ultimately escaped with minor injuries thanks to passengers who pulled him inside.
This text corresponds to part of the report transcript above. Click on the video to watch it in full.
Nightmare scene in the sky on a Ryanair plane. Passengers wear an oxygen mask over their nose. The porthole just burst. The man was carried outside, his head and shoulders in the air. He was treated by emergency services upon landing and miraculously escaped with minor injuries. What happened on the Boeing 737?
The plane takes off from Thessaloniki in Greece to Memmingen in Germany. About an hour later, an engine incident occurred over North Macedonia. Some could have come off, some of them flew out of the exploding porthole. “We heard a huge noise, like a tire exploding. We realized that depressurization had occurred because the plane suddenly lost altitude. And then there were just screams and howls.”– says the passenger.
A man at a window will be restrained and rescued by passengers holding him for dear life before an emergency landing in Thessaloniki. On the ground, the first signs of engine trouble were potential blown compressor blades. The accident is reminiscent of a crash in the southwestern United States eight years ago in which a passenger died after being sucked into a window.
There is already a Boeing 737 equipped with the same type of engine for a similar scenario. “When a blade came off, it damaged the engine and debris caused the window to explode. We are finally seeing something very similar. Obviously, there is no evidence yet, but, nevertheless, the investigation is definitely moving towards a repeat of this event.”– explains Xavier Teitelman, aeronautics expert.
Boeing has had a series of incidents in recent years. Two years ago I lost a wheel during takeoff. During another flight, the engine compartment came off. And even the door came unhooked in the sky. A period of turbulence continues for the American aircraft manufacturer.