Ryanair passenger sucked out of plane reveals email he received after horror incident
A man who was on the ‘brink of death’ after being ‘sucked out’ of a window of a Ryanair flight has criticised the airline’s response following the incident.
Ljubiša Karović was on a flight from Thessaloniki, Greece to the German town of Memmingen on 10 July when a cabin window 'dislodged' shortly after takeoff and the 61-year-old ended up suspended, head-first out of the aircraft.
His wife Svetlana, who was sitting three seats behind her husband onboard flight FR1879, saw what happened and immediately rushed to try and save him.
She told Serbian-language outlet Nova that half of Ljubiša’s body 'was sticking out of the plane'.
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Svetlana said: “I immediately reacted and grabbed his legs. I thought: 'If we die, we die together'. It was horrible."
Two people had to help her pull her husband back into the aircraft, and she said he lost consciousness several times.
Ljubiša, who was initially unable to speak, has been left with neck and shoulder pain and has been told to wear a neck brace for six weeks and has been told he may need surgery if the pain doesn’t subside.
He was also left with burns to his face and right arm caused by the velocity of the wind that whipped his upper body during the incident.
The Boeing 737 plane returned to Thessaloniki, where Ljubiša was met by medical staff and an ambulance.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Ljubiša said that following the ordeal, he was sent an email asking if he wanted to rebook his flights.
He said: “All we’ve had is emails to my son, who booked our flights, asking if we want to rebook and asking how I was. But nobody from the company has contacted me directly, not even a phone call to show any concern.”
Svetlana claimed that throughout the horrifying ordeal, the onboard crew ‘didn’t do anything’ and praised her fellow passengers for being ‘brave’ and helping to pull Ljubiša back inside.
Speaking after the incident, a Ryanair spokesperson said cabin crew did a 'phenomenal job', adding that during periods of depressurisation and rapid altitude descents, all passengers and cabin crew are required to fasten their seatbelts and put on oxygen masks.
They told The Guardian: "As soon as the aircraft descended to a safe altitude, our cabin crew attended to and assisted Mr Karović, moving him to alternate seats (beside his wife) and arranged for a doctor onboard to sit with them until the aircraft landed safely back in Thessaloniki.
"They also arranged to have medical assistance standing by on landing in Thessaloniki."
The couple has since hired lawyer Vasilis Tsiaras, who has said he will fight for ‘significant compensation’.
He told the Daily Mail: “My client came back from the brink of death, and we want to make sure that whoever is responsible for this is held accountable.
“It is not just about compensation but about establishing the truth as to what happened and the condition of this aircraft.”
The airline has reassured its passengers that its planes are safe.
Chief financial officer, Neil Sorahan, said the firm is 'very happy' with the safety standards of their fleet and insisted they 'operate at the highest standards of European aviation regulations'.
He added: "We have a relatively young fleet and are very pleased with safety and maintenance within Ryanair group.
"There [have been] literally hundreds of millions of flights on these [Boeing 737] aircraft globally since they first came into being.
"They are probably the safest aircraft ever built, they are highly maintained and we have very well-trained crew."
Sorahan also said that Ryanair had ‘actively’ maintained contact with Ljubiša and Svetlana since the incident.
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is leading the probe into the incident and Sorahan said that Ryanair is 'participating fully'.
He said of the NTSB: "They are going to do a full, independent investigation. We have people on the ground actively involved in assisting."
LADbible has approached Ryanair for comment.
Topics: Travel, World News
Claire Reid