Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has said the airline will be “disputing” claims that any part of a passenger's body was sucked out of a window mid-flight. The statement follows an incident on July 10 when a window broke on a flight from Thessaloniki, Greece, to Memmingen near Munich, Germany.
Ljubisa Karovic, 61, suffered neck and shoulder injuries during the flight. The Serbian national previously described how the plane was rocked by a deafening “explosion” before objects began flying across the cabin and out of the hole.
What happened during the flight
His wife, Svetlana Grković Maksimović, claimed she and two other passengers desperately tried to hold Mr Karovic in place as his head and right shoulder were sucked out of the window, causing him to repeatedly lose consciousness.
Speaking to reporters after the Ryanair annual general meeting in Dublin on Thursday, Mr O'Leary said the passenger was “certainly sucked towards the window, but he didn't get out the window.” Asked if the passenger was partially out of the window, he said: “He wasn't partially out the window,” adding: “No, no, no. Part of his face didn't get out the window. We don't think any part of his body got out the window, but he was certainly sucked in very dramatic circumstances towards the window.”
Ryanair's response and investigation
Mr O'Leary said he was “belted into the seat” and added: “We will be certainly at the end of the process disputing that he or any part of his anatomy will bend out the window.” The airline chief acknowledged Mr Karovic had suffered injuries, saying “we're not trying to downplay it.”
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the US is investigating the incident. A preliminary report found that a fan blade in the engine came apart shortly after the plane departed, with the broken fragments smashing the cabin window.
Compensation and next steps
Mr O'Leary told reporters: “Look, that incident is being investigated by the NTSB, and we have to await the outcome of the NTSB report.” Asked if Ryanair had done any checks or fixes as a result of the incident, he said: “There's nothing we can do at the moment. We are a participant in the investigation with Boeing, with the NTSB, with GE on the engine side. Most of the focus is what happened to the engine. Why was it not self-contained within the cowl of the engine?”
Mr O'Leary said they were in touch with the passenger's lawyer and acknowledged he was entitled to “some compensation” but said he did not believe there was any basis for “any class action” or a payout of “millions and millions”. Mr Karovic, a Serbian businessman, previously told The Guardian he was “still strapped in” with his seatbelt. His wife Svetlana said they were “eternally grateful” to one passenger who she believes is Albanian for his part in the rescue, adding: “He did all he could to bring him in and then tried to block the window, first with a bag that was immediately sucked out and then with a suitcase, which worked.”
