Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has disputed claims that a passenger was partly sucked out of a shattered window on a flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen after takeoff. The passenger, Ljubisa Karovic, was injured in the July incident, and Ryanair accepts that compensation is due, but O’Leary rejected the account that any part of the traveller’s body actually exited the aircraft.
Witnesses and Karovic’s wife described the event as violent and sudden after the window broke shortly after departure. O’Leary said the passenger was drawn toward the window in dramatic circumstances, but not pulled outside the aircraft.
A preliminary investigation cited in the report points to engine debris from a broken fan blade damaging the fuselage and window, indicating the incident was linked to an engine failure rather than a simple window defect. The dispute over the sequence of events could shape the factual record for compensation and any subsequent legal action.