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Window bursts on Greece-Germany flight; passengers save man sucked partially out
🇲🇽 Mexico /Disasters & Emergencies

Window bursts on Greece-Germany flight; passengers save man sucked partially out

From El Universal · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • A passenger window detached on a flight from Greece to Germany, partially sucking a man out of the plane.
  • Other passengers pulled the 61-year-old man back inside, and the plane returned to Thessaloniki.
  • The man sustained neck and shoulder injuries, and authorities are investigating the incident involving a Malta Air flight.

A flight from Greece to Germany experienced a terrifying incident when a passenger window detached shortly after takeoff, partially ejecting a 61-year-old man from the aircraft. The plane, operated by Malta Air, a Ryanair subsidiary, was en route from Thessaloniki to Memmingen when the window blew out.

We had been flying for about 30 or 40 minutes when the window suddenly exploded. My husband was sitting next to it and half his body ended up outside the plane.

— Wife of the injured passengerThe passenger's wife described the terrifying moment the window detached.

Passengers described hearing a loud bang, similar to a tire bursting, followed by a sudden loss of altitude as oxygen masks dropped. The man, who was seated next to the window, had "half his body" pulled outside before other passengers bravely intervened, pulling him back into the cabin. He sustained injuries to his neck and shoulder, along with friction burns.

His whole head, neck, shoulders were pulled out the window.

— ChristinaA passenger named Christina recounted the harrowing details of the man being partially sucked out.

The flight made an emergency return to Thessaloniki. While the airline stated a passenger window detached, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was notified of an issue with the right engine and cabin depressurization. The exact cause of the window failure is under investigation.

The majority of people had fallen asleep, we had closed our eyes. We heard a sound, I would describe it as the bursting of a tire... but very loud.

— ChristinaChristina described the sound and the immediate realization of a loss of cabin pressure.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El Universal in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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