Ryanair CEO disputes report that an injured passenger was partly sucked out a shattered window

Ryanair's CEO Ljubisa Karovic on Thursday refuted claims that a passenger injured during a July flight was partly ejected through a broken window. Karovic himself sustained neck and shoulder injuries, along with friction burns, following the window's shattering during a flight from Greece to Germany on July 10. His wife and witnesses reported that the sudden pressure drop caused his head and shoulders to be pulled toward the window, with her holding onto his legs while other passengers assisted in repositioning him inside the aircraft.

Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary confirmed the passenger's injury and his right to compensation, but dismissed the notion that "millions and millions" of dollars were at stake. O’Leary insisted that "he wasn’t partially out the window," stating that the airline does not believe any part of Karovic's body actually exited the window.

The CEO clarified that while the passenger was "sucked in very dramatic circumstances towards the window," there was no evidence to support that his body was partially ejected. Karovic was wearing a seat belt at the time of the incident. Passengers intervened to block the gap left by the shattered window using a metal box provided by the flight attendants.

The window broke after being struck by fragments from a damaged fan blade in the Boeing 737-800’s right engine, which caused damage to the fuselage and other parts of the plane, according to a preliminary report from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. Flight attendants reported hearing and feeling a loud, continuous vibration, along with smoke or fog filling the cabin before oxygen masks were deployed from the ceiling. The aircraft managed to return safely to Greece.