Bird remains found in engine after man nearly sucked out of window on Ryanair flight

A Ryanair Boeing 737 NG plane experienced a harrowing incident in July when a passenger was partially sucked through a broken window shortly after take-off from Greece, according to a report by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The plane, en route to Germany, lost pressure and was forced to make an emergency landing.

The preliminary NTSB report reveals that four suspected bird strikes to the plane's No 2 engine were reported by the flight crew in the year leading up to the accident. However, no damage was discovered during subsequent maintenance.

The CFM engine, manufactured by a joint venture between France's Safran and US-based General Electric, underwent an inspection in May, but no findings were reported. Boeing and Ryanair have declined to comment on the incident. The NTSB, an independent US government agency responsible for investigating civil transport accidents, is leading the investigation.

They are also examining whether the incident bears any resemblance to previous events, such as a 2018 engine failure on a US Southwest Airlines flight that resulted in a passenger being partially sucked out of the window. The NTSB is still evaluating potential similarities or details between this accident and prior incidents involving similar engine models.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford stated that the early indications do not suggest that the recent Ryanair problem mirrors the Southwest incident.