A passenger on a Ryanair flight was sucked halfway out of the plane after the window he was sitting next to became dislodged in midair. The budget airline flight to Memmingen in Germany was forced to return to Thessaloniki in Greece, from where it departed on Friday morning, after a window broke soon after takeoff.

Incident Details

The unidentified man is thought to have been sitting by the window when he was suddenly pulled out, head-first and up to his shoulders, according to Greek public broadcaster ERT. Fellow passengers managed to hold him down and stop him being dragged out further, the outlet reported.

The plane then returned to Thessaloniki, where the man was treated for shock and other injuries, ERT reported. Other passengers were later transferred to another flight for their onward journey, according to a statement from Ryanair.

One of the other passengers onboard at the time told Radio Thessaloniki: ‘We were sitting a bit further back from where it happened, all we heard was a loud noise and then the oxygen masks dropped. The injured man was bleeding and initially fainted.’

Investigation Launched

An investigation has been launched by the Hellenic Air and Rail Safety Investigation Authority (HARSIA), which oversees aviation in Greece, according to a statement from Fraport Greece, which runs the airport in Thessaloniki.

Original reporting: KRDO (Colorado Springs metro) — read the source article.