Flight Turns Back After Engine Debris Breaks Window, Injuring One Passenger.
Passengers on a Ryanair flight from Greece to Germany said they were jolted awake by a sound they described as similar to a tyre bursting.
Moments later, oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling as the aircraft experienced a rapid loss of cabin pressure, triggering panic among those on board.
One passenger was reportedly pulled towards a window panel that had become detached during the flight. Fellow travellers helped pull him back into his seat before the Boeing 737 safely returned to Thessaloniki, according to witnesses and officials.
The passenger, a Serbian tourist, was taken to hospital with friction burns but was reported to be in stable condition, authorities said.
“Most of us had fallen asleep. Then there was a noise, like a tyre bursting,” one passenger told Radio Thessaloniki.
“We immediately realised there had been a decompression. There were screams… for a moment, I thought someone had accidentally opened the emergency door,” she said.
She added that the oxygen masks deployed and passengers noticed “a strong smell.” She said the head and shoulders of one passenger were outside the window, but he was safely restrained because he had kept his seat belt fastened.
According to Greek media reports, the incident occurred while the aircraft was flying over North Macedonia. Initial reports suggest debris from one of the engines may have struck the fuselage and damaged a passenger window, although aviation authorities have not yet confirmed the cause of the incident.
Ryanair said the flight returned to Thessaloniki “shortly after takeoff after a passenger window detached during the flight.”
“The aircraft landed normally and passengers were transferred back to the terminal,” the airline said, adding that a replacement aircraft was arranged to take the remaining travellers to Memmingen.
The incident is currently under investigation.
Although cabin depressurisation events are rare, they are considered serious aviation emergencies. In 2018, a passenger died after engine debris broke a window on a Southwest Airlines flight in the United States. Earlier, in 1990, the British Airways Flight 5390 incident, in which a cockpit windscreen detached during flight, led to significant changes in aircraft maintenance procedures.
Investigators are examining whether the Ryanair aircraft was damaged by engine debris or another mechanical issue as they work to determine exactly what occurred shortly after take-off.
