Passenger Partially Sucked Out of Plane Window at 16,000 Feet is Suing Ryanair for Millions

About five weeks after surviving an extraordinary, life-threatening incident on a Ryanair flight, Ljubisa Karovic, a 61-year-old Serbian citizen, is preparing for a legal battle against the airline. Karovic and 35 other passengers who were aboard the plane intend to file a lawsuit that could, according to their attorney, reach tens of millions of euros.

The incident occurred on a flight from Thessaloniki, Greece, to Bavaria, Germany. During the flight, the window beside Karovic’s seat suddenly shattered, and due to the pressure difference, his head and part of his upper body were sucked outside the aircraft.

At that point, the plane was flying at an altitude of about five kilometers, or roughly 16,000 feet, at a speed of around 600 kilometers per hour, about 373 mph, with outside temperatures ranging from minus 17 to minus 20 degrees Celsius, or roughly 0 to minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit. For about two minutes, part of Karovic’s body remained outside the plane. The fact that he was wearing a seat belt, along with the actions of his wife and other passengers who held onto his legs, prevented him from being pulled completely out.

Before the emergency landing, Karovic fainted several times because of the pressure and altitude conditions he was exposed to. He suffered a head injury from the intense pressure exerted on him and severe frostbite on his right arm.

Preliminary findings indicate that foreign objects struck the engine after takeoff. As a result, one of the plane’s engines exploded, and parts of it hit the aircraft’s fuselage and shattered the window next to Karovic’s seat. A preliminary report by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that an engine blade broke and that parts of it struck the fuselage and the window.

Karovic and 35 other passengers, out of the 149 people aboard the aircraft, are now seeking to sue Ryanair. Greek attorney Vasilios Tsiaras, who represents the passengers and is preparing a class-action lawsuit seeking millions of euros in compensation, told the German news site BILD: "Not only Mr. Karovic, but all of my other clients also faced death in this incident."

Tsiaras also addressed claims by Ryanair representatives that Karovic was not sucked through the window: "There are about 70 people on the plane who witnessed him being sucked through the window. There is no doubt at all: had the man not been wearing a seat belt, he would have been sucked out of the window and would not have survived. Today, five weeks after the incident, he is progressing well physically and is gradually recovering, although it is still unclear whether he will need surgery. The real problem is his mental condition. Psychologically, he is still in very bad shape."

One possibility raised regarding the cause of the incident is a bird strike, and bird remains were in fact found in the engine. However, the attorney questions whether that is the full explanation for the extent of the damage. In his words, "We believe that birds alone could not have caused this extensive damage."

The final scope of the lawsuit is expected to be determined only after the final expert report on the cause of the engine damage is released. At the same time, the plaintiffs want to examine the maintenance history of the 18-year-old Boeing 737-800 and determine whether it was serviced according to the required maintenance intervals. They also want to find out whether material fatigue in the engine blade may have played a role in the incident.

Ryanair, for its part, is not addressing the claims at this stage. In response to an inquiry from BILD, a company spokesperson said: "We will not comment until the NTSB investigation is complete."