Ryanair CEO Rejects Claim Passenger Was Partly Sucked Out of Shattered Window

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary has contested accounts that a passenger injured on one of the airline's flights in July was partially pulled through a shattered cabin window.

Ljubisa Karovic suffered neck and shoulder injuries as well as friction burns when the window broke shortly after takeoff on a flight from northern Greece to Germany on July 10. His wife and other witnesses said the sudden drop in cabin pressure caused his head and shoulders to be drawn out of the window, and that she held onto his legs while fellow passengers helped pull him back inside.

Speaking after the Irish budget carrier's annual general meeting in Dublin, O'Leary said Karovic had indeed been hurt and was entitled to compensation, but rejected suggestions of a multi-million payout. "He wasn't partially out the window," O'Leary said. "We don't think any part of his body got out the window, but he was certainly sucked in very dramatic circumstances towards the window."

Karovic was wearing a seat belt at the time of the incident. Passengers intervened, and flight attendants used a metal box to block the opening left by the missing window.

According to a preliminary report by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, the window shattered after being struck by fragments from a broken fan blade in the Boeing 737-800's right engine, which also damaged the fuselage and other parts of the aircraft. Flight attendants told investigators they heard and felt a loud, continuous vibration and saw smoke or fog fill the cabin before oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling. The plane returned safely to Greece.