Ryanair flight window decompression on a Friday morning Thessaloniki to Memmingen service forced the aircraft back shortly after take-off after a passenger window dislodged inflight. Ryanair said the aircraft landed normally in Thessaloniki and that passengers were returned to the terminal.
One passenger requested and received medical assistance on the ground in Thessaloniki. Ryanair also arranged a replacement aircraft several hours later to carry the passengers on to Memmingen.
Christina on the cabin scene
Christina, a fellow 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 added: "The masks dropped and there was a strong smell. The head and shoulders of one passenger were outside the window. Fortunately, he hadn't taken off his seat belt."
Witnesses told local media that the man was left hanging head first out of the window as far as his shoulders for several minutes before other passengers pulled him back inside. Passengers also said they heard a loud bang, then saw the window break and oxygen masks fall from the ceiling shortly after the Boeing 737 had taken off.
Malta Air and the investigation
The aircraft was operated by Ryanair's subsidiary Malta Air, and the Irish Aviation Authority said it was aware of the incident involving a Ryanair group aircraft registered and operated by Malta Air, departing Thessaloniki that morning. It said it would provide any requested assistance to the aviation safety investigation authority in Greece and the Maltese Civil Aviation Directorate.
Passengers believed the window was smashed by pieces of the jet's engine, but Ryanair did not comment on that detail. A similar case in 2018 ended far worse, when debris from a damaged engine broke a window on a Southwest Airlines flight in the US and a passenger died after being partially sucked out.
For passengers on the Friday morning flight, the practical outcome was immediate: the aircraft turned back, one traveller needed medical attention, and the trip to Memmingen resumed only after a replacement aircraft was found several hours later.
