A businessman from Serbia was sleeping in his window seat when a thunderous explosion tore through the cabin. Ljubisa Karović, 61, was suddenly sucked head and shoulders out of the aircraft’s window at 15,000ft, travelling at more than 600km/h. Passengers, including his wife, grabbed his legs and held on for several minutes while others used a suitcase to plug the hole. The fact that he survived, his lawyer said, is 'nothing short of a miracle'.
On 10 July 2026, flight FR1879 from Thessaloniki, Greece, to Memmingen, Germany, operated by Ryanair subsidiary Malta Air, suffered a catastrophic window failure. The window dislodged mid-flight, causing a rapid loss of cabin pressure. Karović, seated in 11F, was partially ejected. His head and right shoulder were outside the aircraft, leaving him with burns, bruises and a neck injury. He was taken to hospital after an emergency landing. Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said an initial investigation suggests the incident may have been caused by foreign object damage to the engine during takeoff at Thessaloniki, but could not say definitively.
“A passenger was nearly sucked out of a Ryanair window mid-flight. This explainer covers what happened, why it's rare, and what it means for UK travellers.”
Aircraft windows are designed to withstand extreme pressure differences. Commercial planes are pressurised to keep passengers comfortable at high altitude, with the interior pressure roughly equivalent to 8,000ft. The cabin windows are multi-layered: an inner pane, a middle pane with a small bleed hole to equalise pressure, and an outer pane that bears the main load. If the outer pane fails—for example, from debris impact, metal fatigue or a manufacturing flaw—the middle pane can handle the load temporarily. But a catastrophic failure, as happened here, leads to rapid decompression. In such events, anything not secured is pulled toward the breach by the rush of air. Because Karović was strapped in by his seatbelt, his upper body was forced out while his lower body remained inside.
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating. O’Leary said a draft report would be issued in about 28 days. The cause—whether a foreign object hit the engine and debris then broke the window, or the window failed on its own—will determine liabilities for Ryanair and Boeing. The aircraft was an 18-year-old Boeing 737 that had been fully serviced and overhauled in the past two years.
For UK readers, this incident highlights the extreme rarity but immense danger of in-flight window failures. The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) sets strict maintenance standards for all aircraft operating in British airspace. British airlines, including Ryanair’s UK operations, follow similar inspection regimes. While incidents like this are vanishingly rare (the last comparable case was the 2018 Southwest Airlines engine failure that shattered a window), they underscore why cabin crew safety demonstrations stress that passengers should keep seatbelts fastened at all times. The investigation may also prompt reviews of window inspection protocols or engine debris shielding on Boeing 737s. For now, aviation safety experts say the system remains robust: modern aircraft are built with redundancy, and crew training for rapid decompression is rigorous.
Q: Could this happen on a UK flight? Yes, the same type of aircraft—Boeing 737—is widely used by UK airlines including Ryanair, Jet2, TUI and others. However, the risk is extremely low. UK and European safety regulators require regular inspections of aircraft windows and engines, and any defect is immediately reported. This incident is under investigation, and if a systemic issue is found, it will affect UK fleets too.
Q: What should I do if a window fails during a flight? Follow crew instructions immediately. In a rapid decompression, oxygen masks will drop—put yours on before helping others. Stay in your seat with your seatbelt fastened. The crew will guide the aircraft to a lower altitude where breathing is safe. Do not attempt to block a broken window yourself; leave that to trained crew members who may use cabin items temporarily as a seal.
Q: Who is liable if I’m injured in such an incident? Liability can fall on the airline, the aircraft manufacturer, or both depending on the cause. Under the Montreal Convention, airlines are generally liable for passenger injuries on international flights. If a foreign object (e.g., runway debris) caused the damage, the airport operator could also be liable. Investigations like the NTSB one determine the root cause, which then guides legal claims.
The NTSB’s draft report is expected in about 28 days. That preliminary finding will likely clarify whether foreign object damage to the engine caused the window failure, or whether the window itself had a defect. Meanwhile, Karović continues to recover, saying his faith and his seatbelt saved him. For the rest of us, it’s a stark reminder that even on a routine flight, the margin between safety and disaster can be inches and seconds.
