A Serbian man was partially sucked out of a Ryanair aircraft window at 20,000 feet after an engine part smashed into the cabin, with his wife clinging to his legs to prevent him being dragged out entirely.
Mid-air catastrophe over North Macedonia
Ljubiša Karovi, 61, was travelling with his wife Svetlana Grkovi on a Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen on Friday, July 10. The aircraft departed at 5:55am local time but encountered engine trouble moments later while flying above North Macedonia. The pilot decided to return to Thessaloniki.
During the descent, a section of the faulty engine detached and struck the window next to Karovi's seat. The cabin pressure caused him to be partially sucked out of the aircraft.
Wife's desperate rescue
Ms Grkovi told Nova that she immediately grabbed her husband's legs as he dangled outside the plane. 'I reacted immediately and grabbed his legs. I thought: 'If we die, we die together.' It was horrible,' she said.
She also expressed a desire to personally thank another passenger who assisted in saving her husband's life during the ordeal.
Injuries and trauma
Mr Karovi remains in hospital and is unable to speak due to his injuries. His wife revealed he sustained friction burns, a severely damaged hand, multiple other burns, and is profoundly traumatised. He blacked out repeatedly during the incident and has little memory of what happened.
Ryanair statement
A Ryanair spokesperson 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 inflight. The aircraft landed normally and passengers returned to the terminal. One passenger requested and received medical assistance on the ground in Thessaloniki. 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.'
