And he paid extra for a window seat

[MASTERBAKER]

Ryanair passenger’s head and shoulders hang from broken window after he’s nearly sucked out of plane​

By
Chris Bradford
Published July 10, 2026
Updated July 10, 2026, 8:03 a.m. ET
115 Comments

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A plane passenger was almost sucked out of a window that shattered moments after take-off on Friday — with others grabbing hold of him as his “head and shoulders” were left hanging outside.

The traveler — only identified as a 61-year-old Serbian man — was pinned in his seat by fellow passengers as chaos unfolded on the Ryanair flight that left Greece for Germany at 5:55 a.m., CNN Greece reported.

The Boeing 737-800 plane was at an altitude of around 20,000 feet — when travelers heard a noise “like a tire bursting,” one passenger told Radio Thessaloniki, according to Agence France Presse.

A Ryanair plane window shattered moments after taking off from Thessaloniki, Greece.@RThessaloniki/X
They only later found out that a piece of the plane’s engine had broken off and struck the window, causing it to shatter.


“We immediately realised there had been a decompression. There were screams … for a moment I thought someone had accidentally opened the emergency door,” the passenger said.

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“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.”

The passenger was restrained by fellow travelers, Michalis Giannakos, the president of Panhellenic Federation of Public Hospital Employees in Greece, told reporters, according to Enikos.

“His wife held him down for five minutes so he wouldn’t get out,” he said.

The plane returned to Thessaloniki airport.DORA – stock.adobe.com
“With the help of many passengers, they managed to pull him into the cabin.”

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The plane, which was heading to Memmingen, just outside of Munich, returned to Thessaloniki in Greece and passengers were given seats on a replacement flight.

The man is being treated for friction burns, according to Giannakos.

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“A Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen on Friday morning (10 July) returned to Thessaloniki shortly after take-off when a passenger window dislodged inflight,” A Ryanair spokesperson told The Post.

“The aircraft landed normally and passengers returned to the terminal. One passenger requested and received medical assistance on the ground in Thessaloniki.”

 

[MASTERBAKER]

Doc Owens
Did the rest of the passengers thank him for plugging the hole and saving their lives?

Chris Semenza-Weidele
And another reason why I always keep my seatbelt on. He was lucky he had his on which helped and yet people still had to help keep him restrained. Scary

Ryan Eloy Cantu
Fraction burns? Not broken neck? How a 60+ year old man survived that with minior burns is wild. I'd be broken psychologically from the fear

And rich. Very very rich

Pete Brennan
Well, the good part of the story is that he has a wife that probably cares about him since she tried to help him from being blown out the window. My ex would have probably undone my seatbelt and helped pushed me out. 

 

[Temujin]

Homie had enough. His wife thought she had him trapped and could nag him for the next 4 hours. Not the kid he was out of here. LOL