Ryanair disputes passenger account after dramatic window incident.
Ryanair has said it intends to challenge claims that a passenger was partially sucked out of an aircraft after a cabin window shattered during a flight from Greece to Germany in July.
The incident left 61-year-old Serbian businessman Ljubisa Karović seriously injured after debris struck the Boeing 737 and broke the window beside his seat. The resulting damage caused a sudden loss of cabin pressure and led to dramatic scenes on board the aircraft.
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has since released its preliminary findings into the incident, identifying evidence of fatigue in the engine fan blade that fractured during the flight.
Investigators found that fan blade No. 10 had fractured and separated below its platform. Examination of the failed blade found that approximately 37% of the fracture surface displayed features consistent with fatigue. Further microscopic analysis identified characteristics consistent with high-amplitude fatigue.
The failure caused significant damage to the engine, with fragments and other debris striking parts of the aircraft. The fuselage was damaged and the passenger window at row 11 was shattered, resulting in the rapid depressurisation of the cabin.
The NTSB’s findings remain preliminary and the wider investigation is continuing. However, the report provides considerably more detail about the sequence of events that resulted in the window being destroyed and the cabin losing pressure.
Karović’s lawyer has said the sudden depressurisation caused his client’s head and right arm to be pulled through the window opening before he was dragged back inside the aircraft.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has challenged that version of events. Speaking following the airline’s annual general meeting in Dublin, O’Leary acknowledged that Karović was violently pulled towards the damaged window but disputed suggestions that any part of the passenger’s body actually went outside the aircraft.
O’Leary said the passenger had been wearing his seatbelt and maintained that Ryanair would dispute the description of him being partially sucked out of the aircraft. He nevertheless stressed that the airline was not attempting to minimise the seriousness of what happened.
Karović has previously said he believes his seatbelt prevented him from being pulled further towards the opening. He also recalled losing consciousness during the incident.
His wife, Svetlana, has given a different account from Ryanair’s version of events. She said she witnessed her husband partially in the window opening and described how another passenger intervened to help bring him back into the cabin.
According to her account, the unidentified passenger then attempted to cover the shattered window. A bag was reportedly used first but was immediately pulled through the opening. A suitcase was subsequently placed against the damaged area and proved more effective.
The window incident was not the only issue discussed around Ryanair’s annual meeting. Shareholders also voted on a substantial new remuneration package for O’Leary, with roughly a third opposing the arrangement.
The package could ultimately be worth €150 million and would give O’Leary options covering 10 million shares if certain profit and share-price targets are achieved and he remains in charge of Ryanair until 2032. Despite significant opposition from some shareholders, the proposal received sufficient support to pass.
O’Leary also continued his dispute with Britain’s National Air Traffic Services following a major air traffic control failure that disrupted hundreds of thousands of passengers travelling to and from the UK and resulted in more than 2,100 flight cancellations.
Nats said the disruption involved a problem with its flight-processing system but maintained that it was different from faults responsible for previous major outages. Aviation minister Keir Mather told MPs that the issue affected information available to controllers at the Swanwick centre.
Meanwhile, the NTSB investigation into the Ryanair incident remains ongoing. Despite its preliminary findings, investigators have yet to publish their final conclusions.
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