Nightmare at 30,000 Feet: Passenger Sucked Through Ryanair Window Shares Devastating Physical and Mental Toll
What was supposed to be an ordinary summer flight across Europe transformed into a terrifying fight for survival when a sudden, explosive failure shattered a cabin window—partially sucking a sleeping passenger out of the aircraft mid-flight.
Ljubisa Karović and his wife, Svetlana, were traveling from Thessaloniki, Greece, to Memmingen, Germany, on July 10 when disaster struck moments after takeoff. Karović, who had fallen asleep shortly after departure, was jolted awake by a deafening roar that felt like a bomb detonating inside the cabin.
Within seconds, the sudden cabin depressurization ripped open the window next to his seat. The overwhelming force of the rushing air instantly pulled Karović’s head and shoulders out of the fuselage into the freezing atmosphere outside.
“For a moment I was conscious, but then I don’t remember anything until they woke me,” Karović told the German newspaper Bild, recounting his horrific ordeal. “I was covered in blood.”
“If We Die, We Die Together”: A Wife’s Fearless Instinct
While chaos erupted in the cabin, Svetlana Karović acted instantly. Refusing to let the atmospheric pressure pull her husband into the sky, she lunged forward and grabbed him by his legs, holding on with everything she had.
Speaking with the Serbian news outlet Nova, Svetlana recalled the sheer terror of those critical seconds, explaining that fear for her own life never crossed her mind.
“I reacted immediately and grabbed his legs. I thought: ‘If we die, we die together.’ It was horrible,” she said.
Seeing the couple battling the rushing air, fellow passengers snapped out of their initial shock and rushed to help. Svetlana singled out one man in particular—whom she believed to be Albanian—praising his incredible bravery and quick thinking.
Together, the group managed to haul Karović back into the safety of the aisle. The brave passenger then improvised a barrier to seal the gaping breach, first trying a bag—which was instantly sucked out into the sky—before successfully wedging a heavy suitcase against the broken window to stabilize the cabin pressure.
Svetlana told BBC Serbia that the sight of her husband after he was pulled back inside was horrifying: his entire face appeared deformed, with blood pouring from his nose and mouth.
A Devastating Recovery and Hidden Trauma
Although the aircraft managed to turn around and execute a safe emergency landing back in Thessaloniki—where medical crews rushed Karović to the hospital—the physical and emotional scars run exceptionally deep.
Karović suffered severe friction burns across his body alongside serious, debilitating injuries to his spine and shoulder. Doctors have warned him that his physical recovery will take many months and will likely require multiple additional surgeries.
Yet, Karović emphasizes that the psychological wounds are far harder to heal than the physical ones:
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Reliving the Horror: “As soon as I close my eyes, I see pictures of what I experienced – those few minutes, it’s a nightmare,” Karović shared, describing how the trauma invades his daily life.
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Agoraphobia and Stress: “I can’t go out, everything bothers me, mentally I am destroyed. Whenever I hear the sound of a plane, I become stressed.”
What Caused the Failure?
Following the incident, Ryanair released a statement clarifying the preliminary findings of the technical investigation into the mid-air mechanical failure.
According to the airline, early evidence suggests that a foreign object—likely a bird or debris—struck one of the plane’s engines shortly after takeoff. The impact caused a fan blade to break off at high speed, ricocheting into the fuselage and shattering the window right beside Karović’s seat.
Ryanair confirmed that the flight crew handled the emergency swiftly, landing the plane normally in Thessaloniki so passengers could return to the terminal while Karović received urgent medical treatment on the ground.
While technical investigators work to finalize their reports, Karović and his wife remain eternally grateful to the strangers who risked their own lives to pull him back inside—even as they face a long, agonizing road toward emotional and physical recovery.