Man who was 'sucked out' of broken window on Ryanair plane 'unable to speak' due to injuries
The wife of the man who was 'sucked out' of a Ryanair window at 20,000ft has described her frantic battle to save his life.
Last week it was revealed that a passenger onboard a Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki, Greece to Memmingen, Germany had narrowly escaped death after being partially pulled out of a broken window.
The passenger was later named as Serbian national Ljubiša Karović, who was saved after his wife Svetlana Grković grabbed onto his legs and held him in place as the plane descended back into the Greek city shortly after takeoff.
Svetlana has now spoken out about her husband's ordeal, revealing that the 61-year-old is currently in hospital with friction burns, an injury to his hand and is unable to speak.
'If we die, we die together'
"As the window broke, decompression occurred in the cabin. The pressure pulled Ljubisa, luckily he was strapped in, but half of his body was sticking out of the plane," she told Serbian-language outlet Nova.
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"I immediately reacted and grabbed his legs. I thought: 'If we die, we die together'. It was horrible."
Once the plane landed back in Thessaloniki, an ambulance was waiting to take Ljubisa to a local hospital where he was treated for his injuries, with Svetlana revealing the ordeal has left her husband unable to speak.
"He's seriously injured and in shock. His hand is particularly badly injured, and he's got burns. He's not able to communicate, he doesn't remember the whole event," she explained, adding that her husband likely lost consciousness 'several times' during the ordeal.
Several other passengers also rushed over to help Svetlana and her husband, which she believes saved his life.
Praising the heroic acts of one man in particular, she said: "That man helped me a lot, Ljubiša and I. I would like to meet him, to thank him personally again."
'It was as if a part of the engine broke off'
Svetlana also revealed what she believes likely caused the accident, telling the outlet that she thought part of the aircraft's engine had broken off and collided with the window next to her husband's seat.
"It was as if a part of the engine broke off and hit the window where my husband Ljubiša was sitting," she said.
Footage has since emerged to support Svetlana's recollection of events, showing that a blade from one of the jet's engines was missing. The clip also shows the inside of the engine, with other blades appearing dented and warped out of shape.
The metal lining the inside of the jet engine before the blades also appears to have been damaged, appearing dented and ripped.
What has Ryanair said about the incident?
In a statement shared with LADbible, Ryanair said: "A Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen on Friday morning (10 July) returned to Thessaloniki shortly after take-off when a passenger window dislodged inflight.
"The aircraft landed normally and passengers returned to the terminal. One passenger requested and received medical assistance on the ground in Thessaloniki.
"In order to minimise any delay, a replacement aircraft was arranged to bring passengers to Memmingen which departed Thessaloniki at 9:53 local this morning."
Brenna Cooper