The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Thursday it will lead the investigation into an incident in which a passenger was partly sucked out of a Ryanair Boeing 737’s broken window over Greece last week.
Incident Details
A piece of engine broke off the Boeing 737 NG and smashed the window shortly after takeoff from Thessaloniki in Greece on July 10, according to video and the Federal Aviation Administration. The plane, headed to Germany, lost pressure and made an emergency landing.
Fellow passengers held on to the person pulled out of the window, Serbian national Ljubisa Karovic. He was injured and hospitalized.
Investigation and Response
The event had similarities to problems on two prior Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 NG flights in 2016 and 2018. In the latter, a passenger died after being partially sucked out of a window damaged by a broken fan blade.
After the Southwest incident, the NTSB called on Boeing to redesign the fan cowl structure on 737 NG planes, and the FAA issued an airworthiness directive in 2023 to be completed by 2028.
Southwest said Thursday it has completed the work on approximately 80% of its affected planes and was ahead of schedule to meet the FAA’s July 2028 deadline.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
