New footage emerges from inside Ryanair flight after window smashed and man was ‘sucked out’ of plane
New footage has emerged showing the horrifying moment a man was ‘sucked out of’ a plane after a window shattered mid-flight.
Ljubiša Karović, 61, was on board a Ryanair flight between Thessaloniki, Greece and Memmingen, Germany, last month when he suddenly heard ‘a massive bang like a bomb’.
Within moments, Karović's upper body ‘was sticking out of the plane’, his wife Svetlana told Serbian-language outlet Nova.
She said: “I immediately reacted and grabbed his legs. I thought: 'If we die, we die together'. It was horrible."
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After hearing the bang, Karović said: “Only for one moment was I conscious and I cannot remember the rest.
“I had blood all over me, blood was dripping from my face and my hands.”
The incident has also left deep mental scars.
He continued: “As soon as I close my eyes, images appear of the nightmare I experienced.
“I am not even contemplating getting another flight. Every time I hear an aeorplane, I get stress and a fever.
“Mentally I have hit rock bottom. It has an effect on both my work and family. It is a complete upheaval in my life.”
Svetlana said she was helped by other passengers who sprung into action and attempted to pull her husband back inside the plane.
Footage from the incident, which was obtained by 60 Minutes Australia, shows passengers wearing oxygen masks as the wind whipped debris through the cabin.
Several passengers appear to be holding Karović, including his wife who is standing behind him.
According to reports, passengers spent around two minutes trying to drag Karović back inside the plane.
Eleni Kyranou, 33, was one of those who held onto the 61-year-old.
“I did what I could to help a person, to save a life,” she told 60 Minutes Australia.
“But it still haunts me, the images and the sound has stayed with me.”
Recalling Karović’s condition once he was back inside the plane, she added: “He was in shock. He was fainting. He wasn’t there.”
Karović suffered neck and shoulder injuries and friction burns as a result of being nearly sucked out of the plane.
Passenger began recording as she thought she was 'going to die'
The footage was recorded by Sofia Lavou, who told the outlet that she believed the plane was going to crash and had started filming in the hopes the footage could be used to document the incident.
“We put on our oxygen masks, and you suddenly feel like the plane is falling because you feel like you’re falling, like the plane is falling,” she said.
“So that’s why we all thought we were going to die, so I needed proof.
“I said, 'If I'm going down, at least I will have some proof of what happened.’”
Earlier this month, US investigators have now found what caused the incident to happen in a preliminary report.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says this incident happened after an engine fan blade broke shortly after take-off on the flight operated by Ryanair subsidiary Malta Air.
“Engine fragments breached the fuselage and the cabin depressurised,” investigators wrote in the report.
“The crew elected to return to SKG where they made an uneventful landing.”
Ryanair told LADbible they wouldn't be commenting until the NTSB investigation had ended.
Claire Reid