A Ryanair Boeing 737 made an emergency landing in Thessaloniki on Friday after a passenger window dislodged shortly after takeoff, leaving one passenger injured, Reuters reported.
The flight had been travelling from Thessaloniki in Greece to Memmingen in Germany when it returned to Thessaloniki. Ryanair said the aircraft turned back after “a passenger window dislodged inflight.”
Two airport sources told Reuters that a passenger was partially sucked through the broken window. The Serbian consulate said the passenger, a Serbian national, was taken to AHEPA University General Hospital in Thessaloniki and did not have life-threatening injuries.
Serbian media quoted another passenger as saying the man’s head and shoulders were outside the aircraft before other passengers pulled him back in.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the aircraft was a Boeing 737 NG, the generation before the current 737 MAX. The FAA said a window broke during the flight and that it was ready to support the investigation.
Ryanair said the aircraft landed normally and that passengers returned to the terminal. It was not immediately clear what caused the window to break.
Local media in Greece reported that a piece of engine broke off and smashed a window early in the flight, causing the cabin to decompress.
