Ryanair passenger who was almost sucked out of plane window at 15,000ft claims staff 'did nothing' to help
A man who says he was almost sucked out of a Ryanair plane window at 15,000ft has accused cabin crew of ‘doing nothing’ to help as passengers battled to save his life, a claim the airline strongly disputes.
Ljubisa Karovic, 61, was travelling from Thessaloniki, Greece, to Memmingen, Germany, on July 10 when the window next to his seat shattered mid-flight, causing a sudden loss of cabin pressure that pulled him partway out of the aircraft.
His wife, Svetlana Grkovic Maksimovic, along with several other passengers, grabbed onto him and held on for around two minutes until he was thankfully pulled back inside.
The broken window is believed to have been caused by part of the plane's engine coming loose during the flight and smashing into it.
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Despite Karovic's claims, Ryanair has defended the performance of its staff, saying cabin crew did a 'phenomenal job'.
But Karovic told the Daily Mail yesterday (26 July) that no one from Ryanair has been in touch with him directly since the horrific incident.
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."
Ryanair told The Guardian that during the depressurisation and rapid descent, all passengers and cabin crew are required to fasten their seatbelts and put on oxygen masks.
"As soon as the aircraft descended to a safe altitude, our cabin crew attended to and assisted Mr Karovic, 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," the airline said.
"They also arranged to have medical assistance standing by on landing in Thessaloniki."
Grkovic Maksimovic, who was seated several rows behind her husband, said it was passengers, not staff, who stepped up to save Ljubisa.
"When we were battling to hold onto Ljubisa, the crew didn't do anything, they looked more scared than us," she told the Daily Mail. "It was only the passengers who helped and were brave."
What happened during the decompression?
Speaking to the Daily Mail two weeks on from the incident, Karovic said he has no memory of the incident, as he passed out almost immediately.
He said the last thing he recalls is an 'ear-splitting bang' before he blacked out, and he now suffers with acute neck and shoulder pain, burns to his face and right hand, and has to wear a neck brace for six weeks.
Grkovic Maksimovic described the struggle to keep hold of her husband as ‘tug of war’, saying she pulled with all her strength while a force on the other side tried to drag him out completely.
One passenger, described as a large, strong man, was said to have played a key role in hauling Karovic back inside before blocking the shattered window with a bag and then a suitcase.
Other passengers on board described the panic that followed. One woman, named as Christina, told Radio Thessaloniki that people initially feared someone had opened an emergency exit, while another passenger, Sofia, said the force of the decompression was so extreme it felt as though nobody could breathe.
Karovic's lawyer Vasilis Tsiaras claimed the crew were 'gripped by fear that the plane was about to crash', which he said prevented them from helping.
"It seems that the crew were more interested in saving their own lives," he said. "It was only the actions of the passengers that saved my client."
The incident is being investigated by the US National Transportation Safety Board, with a draft report expected within around 28 days.
UNILAD has contacted Ryanair for comment.
Topics: Plane, World News
Thomas Bamford