Man sucked out of plane window up to shoulders at 20,000ft. Seatbelt and his wife saved him

A 61-year-old man was sucked up to his shoulders out of a plane window after the debris from the shattered engine struck the glass. His wife held on to him for several minutes to save him. A passenger told Greek outlet ERT that the man's head and shoulders were sticking out of the window. The terrifying incident happened on a Ryanair flight to Memmingen, Germany. The Boeing 737 left the Macedonia airport in Thessaloniki, Greece, at 5:55 am on Friday morning. Nearly an hour later, passengers heard a loud bang, which caused the plane's glass to shatter.

The Serbian man was immediately sucked out of the window as the plane cruised at a height of 20,000ft. The plane's engine had failed, and several pieces from its motor were flung around, with debris hitting the windows, cracking them open. It triggered immediate chaos on the plane. The man's wife held on to him for 5 minutes, making every effort to keep him safe and inside the plane. Footage shows oxygen masks hanging in the cabin and a hole in the window.

The flight returned to Thessaloniki after "a passenger window dislodged inflight", Ryanair said in a statement. It added that the plane landed safely, and one passenger requested and received medical assistance. Another plane was arranged for the passengers who flew back at 9:53 am. “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.”

Seatbelt saved the Serbian man

A female passenger told Radio Thessaloniki 94.5, "A noise was heard as if a tire had burst. There was panic with screams, screams and voices because we immediately lost altitude from the decompression." She thought that somebody had opened the emergency door. The woman said the man sucked out of the window was wearing a seatbelt. "They grabbed him and held him down, fortunately he hadn't taken off his seatbelt. His head was completely outside the plane."