Ryanair Boeing 737 window blowout incident during flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen
Consensus Summary
A Ryanair Boeing 737 NG flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen experienced a passenger window blowout in mid-air, causing partial decompression and nearly sucking a Serbian passenger out of the plane. The incident occurred on Thursday, with the aircraft carrying over 170 passengers and 6 crew. Both sources confirm the plane was a Boeing 737 NG, not the newer MAX generation, and that a similar incident involving a snapped engine fan blade and window failure happened in 2018 on a Southwest Airlines flight, resulting in a fatality. The Guardian details a separate 2024 Alaska Airlines incident involving a door plug blowout, while the ABC article highlights the FAA’s 2023 directive requiring Boeing to redesign the fan cowl structure by July 2028. The plane landed safely in Thessaloniki, and the passenger involved was hospitalized. Investigations are ongoing, with Boeing assisting and North Macedonia leading the inquiry due to the incident occurring in its airspace.
✓ Verified by 2+ sources
Key details reported by multiple sources:
- Ryanair flight FR1879 was scheduled to fly from Thessaloniki, Greece, to Memmingen, Germany, on Thursday
- The incident involved a passenger window dislodging in-flight, causing a partial decompression
- The plane was a Boeing 737 NG (not the MAX generation)
- The aircraft carried more than 170 passengers and 6 crew during the incident
- A similar incident occurred in 2018 on a Boeing 737 NG involving a snapped engine fan blade and a broken window
- The plane traveled at 400mph during the incident
- The final report into the 2024 Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 incident confirmed that 4 door bolts securing the door plug were removed during rivet work
Points of Difference
Details reported by only one source:
- A cabin panel on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 blew out mid-flight in 2024, with a passenger seeing a boy’s shirt ripped off and sucked out of the plane while two seats next to the hole were unoccupied
- One passenger’s seatbelt saved him as the force of the air tore off his socks, shoe, and iPhone, and ripped off the cockpit door and tore off a co-pilot’s headset
- Seven passengers and one flight attendant suffered minor injuries in the Alaska Airlines incident
- The Alaska Airlines incident report was released last year
- The Serbian passenger was transferred to Thessaloniki's AHEPA University General Hospital
- The 43-year-old passenger died in the 2018 Southwest Airlines incident, becoming the first person killed in a US passenger airline accident in nine years
- The US National Transportation Safety Board called on Boeing to redesign the fan cowl structure on 737 NG planes after the 2018 incident
- The FAA issued a directive in 2023 requiring Boeing’s redesign by July 2028
- The plane had diverted back to Thessaloniki on a flight to Sarajevo on Thursday evening shortly after take-off
- Ryanair uses CFM56 engines on all its Boeing 737 NG models
Contradictions
Conflicting information between sources:
- The Guardian states the incident occurred on Thursday, while the ABC article does not explicitly confirm the day but mentions a Friday morning return flight and a Thursday diversion to Sarajevo
- The Guardian mentions a passenger window dislodging due to an engine failure, while the ABC article does not explicitly confirm the cause but references local media reports of a broken engine piece smashing the window
- The Guardian reports the plane was forced to make an emergency landing due to a cabin panel blowout, while the ABC article states the plane returned to Thessaloniki after a passenger window dislodged in-flight
Source Articles
Ryanair passenger almost sucked out of shattered window during flight
Serbian man reportedly saved by wife hanging on to his legs after window shattered on journey from Greece A passenger on a Ryanair flight was reportedly almost sucked out of a window after it shattered in mid-air during a journey from Greece. The man was said to have been lifted out of his seat into the plane’s slipstream and hung headfirst out of the window after an engine failure resulted in parts smashing the acrylic window, according to local reports. Continue reading...
Passenger partially sucked out of window on budget flight to Germany
The man's head and shoulders were reportedly outside the Boeing 737's window before passengers on the Ryanair flight were able to pull him back in.