Broken engine fragments struck a cabin window on a Ryanair flight last month, causing a passenger's head and shoulder to be drawn into the breach, U.S. investigators reported. The incident occurred on a July 10 flight from Greece to Germany after an engine fan blade failed shortly after takeoff.
Serbian national Ljubisa Karović sustained serious injuries and was in shock after the event. His wife, Svetlana Grković Maksimović, stated that she and other passengers held onto his legs for several minutes.
Engine Failure and Emergency Landing
According to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the aircraft, operated by Ryanair's subsidiary Malta Air, experienced a "No. 2 (right) engine fan-blade-out (FBO) failure during climb out" on the flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen. The crew decided to return to Thessaloniki International Airport, where the plane landed without further incident.
The NTSB assumed full investigative authority from Greek authorities shortly after the event. Flight crew accounts detailed in the report indicate they received an engine alert for "high vibration" during the climb. In response, they reduced engine power and conducted checks. After the vibrations ceased, the crew continued the climb using autopilot. However, engine vibrations intensified, followed by a loud bang, prompting the crew to declare an emergency and begin their descent.
Flight attendants reported hearing and feeling the vibrations and observed a small amount of smoke before oxygen masks were deployed. They later noted passengers calling for assistance after a passenger was found "partially lodged in a damaged cabin window," with the entire window missing.
The engine in question had undergone ultrasonic inspections in May of the same year, with no faults identified at that time. Ryanair's CEO, Michael O'Leary, had previously suggested that the incident might have been caused by "foreign object damage" to an engine.