Moments after take-off, a passenger experienced the scare of a lifetime when he was nearly sucked out of a plane window that suddenly shattered.
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During a Ryanair flight from Greece to Germany, a piece of the plane's engine broke off and obliterated a passenger window while the aircraft was at 20,000 feet, CNN Greece reported.
When the window shattered, a 61-year-old Serbian man was nearly sucked out of his seat and ejected from the plane. His wife and a few other brave passengers helped hold him in place as the senior citizen's "head and shoulders" were left hanging outside.
"We immediately realised there had been a decompression. There were screams. For a moment, I thought someone had accidentally opened the emergency door," a passenger recalled.
"The masks dropped. There was a strong smell. The head and shoulders of one passenger were outside the window. Fortunately, he hadn't taken off his seat belt."
The passenger who was nearly launched into the troposphere suffered friction burns and was later hospitalized, according to Enikos.
The president of Panhellenic Federation of Public Hospital Employees, Michalis Giannakos, emphasized that "his wife held him back for 5 minutes so that he wouldn't go outside."
Ryanair issued a statement about the mid-air scare on one of its aircraft.
"A Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen on Friday morning (July 10) returned to Thessaloniki shortly after takeoff when a passenger window became detached in flight. The aircraft landed normally. And passengers returned to the terminal," the airline said.
Troublesome Incidents Continue For Airlines in 2026
So far, this has been a wacky year for plane passengers. Seemingly every week, a new frightening incident occurs above ground.
In May, a United Airlines passenger attempted to open the plane doors mid-flight. After an altercation with a fellow passenger, the ticked-off traveler attempted to open the plane doors at 36,000 feet. The flight bound for Guatemala City was forced to make an emergency landing due to the traveler's tantrum.
Last month, during an Aer Lingus flight bound for Seattle, a drunken passenger tried to force his seatmate into taking pills. When flight attendants confronted him, the inebriated passenger tried fighting the seven-person crew.
Even retrieving cargo has proved burdensome this year. Last month, hundreds of Virgin Atlantic passengers were threatened with arrest if they left before claiming their checked bags, which were delayed by five hours due to severe weather.
Hopefully the second half of the year isn't as chaotic for travelers.
