Michael O’Leary: Ryanair Window Terror May Have Been Caused by 'Foreign Object'
An initial probe suggests foreign object damage smashed the window, and Ryanair says the passenger survived after being held back by his seatbelt and others.
- On Monday, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary attributed a broken window incident earlier this month to "foreign object damage," saying initial findings suggested the problem stemmed from the aircraft's age or servicing conditions.
- An engine fragment from the Boeing 737 broke off shortly after takeoff on July 10, smashing into the window and causing rapid decompression that nearly pulled Serbian passenger Ljubisa Karovic from the aircraft.
- Karovic, 61, was hospitalized with neck and shoulder injuries, friction burns, and severe psychological trauma after his wife, Svetlana Grkovic, and fellow passengers pulled him back inside; the aircraft was 18 years old with recent engine servicing.
- The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident; a draft report is due in about a month, and if external object damage is confirmed, it could reduce liability for both Boeing and Ryanair.
- O'Leary's comments emerged as Ryanair reported a 34% profit drop to €538 million for the quarter, with jet fuel prices doubling to $150 a barrel amid Iran conflict, leaving the airline's full-year outlook highly uncertain.
19 Articles
19 Articles
Ljubisa Karović remembers the explosion before it was almost pulled out of the plane, the deafening noise of the broken window which woke him from his sleep at 11F, from the window, on the early morning Ryanair flight from Greece to Germany. Eleven days and eleven nights later, remains the foreplay "of the chaos, the catastrophe that keeps him awake at night. "Explosion is what I remember," says the Serbian entrepreneur in an interview with The …
Ljubisa Karović was only recently released from the hospital, and even after what happened, she still remembers the sound of the explosion and the chaos that followed.
'If we die, we die together': Meet Svetlana Grković who grabbed husband's leg after his body went outside a plane mid-air
Europe News: Svetlana Grković was flying from Greece to Germany when a window shattered, sucking out the man sitting nearby. Half of his body was outside the windo.
Ryanair says Boeing 737s are safe after a passenger was partially sucked out through a broken plane window. The cause of the accident is being investigated.
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