Terror at 20,000ft as Ryanair passenger sucked out of smashed cabin window ‘up to his shoulders’

A Ryanair flight was forced to turn back just minutes after take-off after a passenger window reportedly became dislodged mid-air.

The flight had been travelling from Thessaloniki, Greece, to Memmingen, Germany, on Friday morning, July 10, when it returned to the Greek airport as a precaution.

One passenger required medical assistance after the aircraft landed, while all passengers were safely returned to the terminal.

Greek media reported the incident happened while the plane was flying over North Macedonia, claiming the window was damaged by debris that detached from one of the aircraft’s engines.

There were reports that the wife of a 61-year-old Serbian man stopped him from being sucked out of the Boeing 737 by pinning him down.

His head and shoulders were "sticking out of the broken window," a shocked witness told Greek outlet ERT.

Another witness told local media, "his head was completely outside of the plane."

Ryanair has not confirmed those reports.

In a statement to Extra.ie, the airline said: "A Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen on Friday morning (10 July) returned to Thessaloniki shortly after take-off when a passenger window dislodged in-flight.

"The aircraft landed normally, and passengers returned to the terminal. One passenger requested and received medical assistance on the ground in Thessaloniki."

Ryanair said it arranged a replacement aircraft to minimise disruption, with the new flight departing at 9.53 am local time.

"In order to minimise any delay, a replacement aircraft was arranged to bring passengers to Memmingen, which departed Thessaloniki at 9:53 local this morning," the airline added.

*This article was originally published on Extra.ie.