Ryanair passenger nearly sucked out window as wife clings to his legs at 20,000ft

A Ryanair passenger came perilously close to being dragged through a cabin window at 20,000 feet on Friday, July 10. Ljubisa Karovi from Serbia was travelling with his wife Svetlana Grkovi when the incident occurred on a flight departing Thessaloniki at 5:55am. The aircraft was heading to Memmingen when disaster struck.

The pilot detected an engine problem while flying over North Macedonia and decided to return to Thessaloniki. During descent, a section of the damaged engine detached and smashed into the cabin window beside where 61-year-old Mr Karovi was seated. The collision partially sucked him out of the jet due to cabin pressure, exposing him to 370mph winds.

His wife Svetlana acted immediately, grabbing his legs as he dangled outside. Three other passengers assisted in dragging Mr Karovi back inside. They attempted to seal the broken window with a suitcase, which was subsequently sucked out.

Speaking to Nova, Ms Grkovi recalled: "It was as if a part of the engine broke off and hit the window next to which my husband Ljubisa was sitting. I reacted immediately and grabbed his legs I thought If we die we die together It was horrible."

The couple's lawyer, Vasilis Tsiaras, described the efforts: "There was a big hole that they tried to seal with a suitcase which was a little bit soft and was sucked from the plane."

Mr Karovi remains hospitalised and unable to speak due to his injuries. He sustained friction burns, a severely damaged hand, and multiple other burns, and is in severe shock with little recollection of the ordeal. The aircraft landed normally, and a replacement aircraft transported passengers to Memmingen at 9:53am local time.