For millions of nervous flyers, the scariest parts of flying are usually the same: violent turbulence, engine failure, or a crash.
Getting sucked halfway out of a shattered airplane window seldom makes the list.
That nightmare became a horrifying reality last week aboard a Ryanair flight over Greece — when a passenger was partially pulled from the aircraft after a window blew out, shortly after takeoff.
The hapless holidaymaker’s wife clung to his legs, and his seatbelt kept him in place as terrified passengers screamed and the cabin lost pressure— a scene that felt ripped straight from a Final Destination movie.
The extraordinary incident on flight FR1879 was caused by a piece of debris that had become detached from the plane’s engine and shattered the window closest to victim Ljubisa Karovic’s seat.
Now under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board after Greek authorities requested US assistance, headlines of what could have been a deadly accident have sparked conversation around one of air travel’s most visceral fears.
But aviation experts stress that, albeit terrifying, the event is rare. Investigators are still trying to determine whether an engine failure, a maintenance issue, or a manufacturing defect triggered the midair decompression.
The Post reported that a video posted by the Federal Aviation Administration stated that a piece of the engine broke off and smashed the window, before leading to the emergency landing.
On board Boeing’s 737-800 aircraft, one of the most widely used twin-engine passenger jets in the world, the 61-year-old traveled alongside his wife, Svetlana Maksimović, from Thessaloniki, Greece, with the intention of a safe landing in Germany.
The Irish airline Ryanair, on which the flight operated, is reported to have a fleet of 411 737- 800 jets, each capable of seating 189 passengers.
While seated in the window seat of 11F, according to reports, Karovic was vacuumed out of the shattered window and thrust into the skies at nearly 350mph just minutes after takeoff.
Passengers recall being roused by an enormous bang prior to the window shattering, before erupting in screaming panic, only to see a fellow traveler hanging waist-up, out of the plane. He was quickly pulled back into the plane with the help of his wife and other passengers wearing emergency oxygen masks.
“I was sitting in the back. The girl sitting next to him grabbed his hand. Three of us were pulling him in. The masks fell off, and there was chaos,” Maksimović told EPT News.
“My husband fainted three times. They put a suitcase in the window, but it was sucked out.”
The aircraft was able to make an emergency landing safely in Thessaloniki, and Ljubisa, who fainted three times during the two minutes he was dancing with death, was left with severe burns before being hospitalized.
“We still don’t know why this particular event happened,” Jeff Guzzetti, an Aviation Risk expert and president of Guzzetti Aviation Risk Discovery, told The Post. “It’s an extremely rare occurrence, but the Greeks have asked the US NTSB to investigate, so that’s a good thing because they have experience in investigating similar cases in the past.”
Guzzetti stressed that although the reasons for the incident may be speculated on, the investigation will take a year.
“The investigators need to be very methodical and thoughtful, and then you need to write a report that is of high quality and credible and that has consensus,” the expert added.
For Karovic and the other passengers on board, the investigation will also determine who ultimately bears responsibility for the terrifying ordeal.
“It’s up to the individual to handle recourse,” Guzzetti said. “Frequently in cases like this, victims can sue.”
While the airline is typically the first point of contact for injured passengers, Guzzetti said liability might ultimately extend to whichever party investigators determine was responsible for the failure.
“If there is accountability, it could be with the manufacturer,” he said, adding that investigators are working to determine the exact cause.
In her interview with ERT News, Maksimović said her husband is “wearing a collar, he’s in shock, and he hears about planes, and he’s shaking.”
“I’m also in a bad psychological state; I’m taking tranquilisers. I was afraid for our lives. I was afraid the plane would crash.”
By design, plane windows are made of three layers of highly durable acrylic, with air pockets between the layers to insulate the cabin. Maintaining adequate air pressure in the cabin is crucial to the health of the passengers and the flight.
In the case of the Ryanair flight, pilots have mere seconds to react when there is a sudden drop in pressure. Reports say that on this particular flight, a rapid 6,000-ft descent was made to avoid an even more catastrophic disaster.
Ryanair did not respond to The Post’s request for additional comment.
In a statement, the airline said Flight FR1879 returned to Thessaloniki “shortly after take-off when a passenger window dislodged inflight.”
“The aircraft landed normally, and passengers returned to the terminal. One passenger requested and received medical assistance on the ground in Thessaloniki,” the airline said, adding that a replacement aircraft was arranged to transport passengers to Germany.
Still, Guzzetti said the general public should not be afraid to fly.
“Air travel is still 600,000 times safer than driving in your car,” he pointed out.
