Passenger sucked out of Ryanair window at 20,000 feet as wife clings to his legs

The wife of a man who was partially sucked through a Ryanair aircraft window at 20,000 feet has recounted her frantic struggle to keep him alive.

Ljubiša Karović was traveling with his wife, Svetlana Grković, aboard a Ryanair flight on Friday, July 10, when the terrifying ordeal unfolded.

The flight, which departed at 5:55 a.m. from Greece, was forced to turn back after the pilot detected an engine malfunction over North Macedonia.

As the aircraft began its return to Thessaloniki and started descending, a fragment of the damaged engine broke off and struck a cabin window. Karović, 61, was partially pulled through the window by the resulting pressure differential, reports the Mirror US.

While her husband dangled from the aircraft, Grković desperately gripped his feet in an attempt to anchor the Serbian national to the plane.

The harrowing incident took place as the couple was returning home from a summer vacation in Greece. Grković told Nova that she “reacted immediately” and seized her husband’s legs, recalling her thoughts in that critical moment.

“I thought, ‘If we die, we die together.’ It was horrible,” she said.

She also expressed her gratitude to a fellow passenger whose intervention ultimately helped save her husband’s life.

Karović remains hospitalized and is reportedly unable to speak as a result of his injuries. He is also suffering from friction burns and is in a state of severe shock.

Grković revealed that his hand sustained serious injuries, and he has also sustained multiple burns. Grković revealed that her husband lost consciousness on multiple occasions throughout the ordeal and retains little memory of the events that unfolded.

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Following the incident, Ryanair released an official statement: “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 minimize any delay, a replacement aircraft was arranged to bring passengers to Memmingen which departed Thessaloniki at 9:53 local this morning.”