A cabin window separated from a Malta Air-operated Ryanair Boeing 737-800 during climb out from Thessaloniki, Greece on Friday morning, causing a rapid cabin depressurization.
The 61-year-old Serbian passenger beside the window was partially pulled through the opening before his wife and other passengers grabbed him and pulled him back inside over the course of five minutes. His head and upper body, almost to his shoulders, were outside. He survived with neck trauma and friction burns.
BREAKING: Ryanair passenger reportedly saved from being sucked out the cabin after window fails during a flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen.
According to local media Ryanair flight FR1879, a Boeing 737-8AS, returned safely to Greece on Friday after part of a damaged engine… pic.twitter.com/YPgRodjPFp
— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) July 10, 2026
Ryanair flight FR1879, headed to Memmingen, departed at 6:12 a.m. local time on July 10. Most of the coverage says the plane was headed to Munich, but Ryanair often flies to alternate, cheaper airports farther away from the major city it’s marketed as – as in this case with Memmingen Airport, which is 70 miles west of Munich.
The aircraft was 9H-QEU, an 18-year old Malta Air-operated Boeing 737-800 with 189 seats. During the climb, at approximately 15,000 feet, passengers heard a loud bang and a passenger window separated from the fuselage. The decompression deployed the cabin oxygen masks.
The crew descended below 10,000 feet, returned toward Thessaloniki and remained airborne to burn fuel before landing safely about 75 minutes after departure. The injured passenger was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, and another pregnant passenger was hospitalized as well for precautionary examinations but released.
“A Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen on Friday morning, July 10, returned to Thessaloniki shortly after takeoff after a passenger window became detached during the flight. The aircraft landed normally and the passengers returned to the terminal. One passenger requested and received medical assistance on the ground in Thessaloniki.
To minimize the delay, a replacement aircraft was arranged to transport the passengers to Memmingen, which departed Thessaloniki at 9:35 a.m. local time this morning.”
Several media reports suggest that an engine component broke off and hit the window. This is plausible but not yet confirmed. Although the cause is different, it brings to mind the January 2024 Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 door plug incident which caused rapid decompression at about 15,000 feet, as well as the fatal 2018 Southwest Airlines incident where shrapnel from a blown engine entered the cabin.
Ended better than WN1380 (2018, R.I.P.)
And yet people complain when they get the “windowless window seat.” Maybe he should have paid the extra fee for Ryanair shatter-resistant glass. It’s only £/€ 25. My first Ryanair flight is in a week.
*BREAKING* NEWS: As the origin of the flight was Greece, when the window broke, the passengers were heard shouting: “Opaaaaa!!”
To put in perspective the plane while ultimately owned by Ryanair, it is operated with Malta Air livery and based in Malta. Tax dodging at its best. Malta is the place. More than 50% of the passengers flying to Malta do so on either Malta Air or Ryanair.
@ This comes to mind- Ryanair will now charge him an extra fee for free air conditioning as the result of him not paying the no shattered glass fee..
@AlanZ — Oh no! Hadn’t realized that.
Photo circulating shows fan blade damage (one missing?) and cowling damage. I thought certification requires complete containment but this might not have been the case here.
@Ronnie
Shit happens.