Passenger Sucked Partially Out of Ryanair Aircraft Recounts Ordeal | “I Wouldn’t Be Alive If My Wife Hadn’t Held On to Me”

Ljubisa Karovic, 61, has recounted how he narrowly escaped death after a cabin window shattered aboard a Ryanair Boeing 737 operating flight FR1879 from Thessaloniki to Memmingen on July 10.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Karovic said he heard a loud explosion around 20 minutes after takeoff, as the aircraft climbed through 15,000 feet. The window beside him then shattered, causing a sudden loss of cabin pressure.

Despite wearing his seat belt, much of Karovic’s body was pulled outside the aircraft, and he soon lost consciousness. Oxygen masks deployed as panic spread through the cabin.

Karovic was saved by his wife, Svetlana Grkovic Maksimovic, who was seated three rows behind him. After seeing her husband being pulled out of the aircraft, she ran forward and grabbed his legs. With the help of other passengers, Karovic was pulled back into the cabin after a struggle lasting around two minutes. Svetlana said an unidentified passenger also played a major role in the rescue.

Karovic spent six days in hospital following the incident. He suffered serious neck and shoulder injuries, as well as wounds to his face and right arm caused by the high-speed airflow.

The couple claimed that the cabin crew did not assist them during the incident and that Ryanair later sent only a rebooking email. Ryanair rejected the allegations, stating that the crew assisted the passenger once the aircraft had descended to a safe altitude and that the airline remained in contact with the family.

The cause of the incident has yet to be determined, while an investigation by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board remains ongoing. Karovic said he is still affected by the trauma, is afraid to fly again and will never sit next to a window in the future.