The wife of a passenger who was nearly sucked out of a Ryanair plane has recounted the dramatic moments of the incident, saying the only thought that went through her mind was: "If we were going to die, we were going to die together."
Svetlana Grković told Serbian media that her husband, Ljubiša Karović, was sucked headfirst out of the plane window after an engine failure caused fragments to hit and shatter the glass. According to her, half of his body remained outside the plane, while she immediately reacted by grabbing his legs.
"He was out up to his chest for about two minutes. I immediately grabbed his legs," she said, adding that with the help of two other passengers they managed to pull him back inside the cabin. During those moments, her husband lost consciousness three times.
The incident occurred just about 10 minutes after takeoff of the Malta Air plane, a subsidiary of Ryanair, on a flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen in Germany. According to flight data, the plane unexpectedly lost about 2,700 meters of altitude and returned for an emergency landing in Thessaloniki.
Footage from the cockpit shows that after the window broke, oxygen masks were automatically activated, and passengers experienced severe decompression. Some said they thought the plane was crashing, while others remembered the emergency door had opened.
61-year-old Ljubiša Karović is still hospitalized in Greece with serious injuries and in a state of shock. His wife said he has serious injuries to his hand, burns and no memory of the incident.
Svetlana publicly thanked the two passengers who helped her, especially a man she believes was Albanian.
"I think he was Albanian. I want to thank him from the bottom of my heart and I hope to meet him one day to express my gratitude in person," she said.
Greek air safety authorities have launched an investigation into the incident, while Ryanair said the plane returned to Thessaloniki immediately after a passenger window broke off during the flight. Passengers later continued their journey on a replacement plane.
