A woman whose husband was sucked out of the window of a plane during a Ryanair flight has recounted pulling her husband to safety. Serbian couple Svetlana Maksimovic and Ljubisa Karovic had just settled into a flight with the airline last week, when a loud bang pierced the hum of engines.
Within seconds, she saw her 61-year-old husband being sucked out of the plane through a dislodged cabin window. Maksimovic recalled how she, and another woman sitting next to him, attempted to pull him back inside the aircraft.
“I got up and unfastened my seatbelt. The woman sitting next to him was holding onto his arm. I went over to help her, but we just didn't have the strength. We couldn't pull him away from the window," she said.
“Then a man from across the aisle got up, came over, and helped us. Together, we managed to pull him back inside. His upper body was severely disfigured, his arm was badly injured, and there was blood everywhere. His ears, eyes, and nose were all (badly damaged). He was completely disfigured.”
Maksimovic added that she received barely any assistance from other passengers and no help from crew on the plane, during the incident on the flight between the Greek city of Thessaloniki and Germany.
"There was chaos on board the plane. Everyone was just praying that we would stay alive. Everyone was focused on their own survival. The only help I received was from the woman sitting next to my husband and from the man who came over to help me.
“During that time, my husband collapsed three times, and we had no other assistance. All the flight attendants were at the front of the aircraft wearing oxygen masks. No one came to help us.
“One flight attendant approached me only after we landed in Thessaloniki. She came over crying and visibly terrified.”
Greek media and airport sources said that the most likely cause of the incident was that a piece of engine broke off and smashed a window early in the flight, causing the cabin to decompress.
Boeing has said it is assisting the investigation led by North Macedonia, over which the incident occurred. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency are also involved in the inquiry.
A Greek prosecutor has launched a probe into the case, while Greek air accident investigators are also looking into it. The aircraft is still in Greece.
Karovic is now being treated in hospital in Thessaloniki with severe neck and arm injuries, Maksimovic said, adding that the couple have hired a lawyer.
"What happened was extremely serious," the couple's legal adviser, Vassilis Tsiaras, said.
Ryanair, which has confirmed that a window dislodged during the flight, said it would not comment further while the incident is under formal investigation.
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