Ryanair passenger's wife recalls terrifying moment she stopped husband being sucked from plane

A woman whose husband was partially sucked through a broken window on a Ryanair flight has described the terrifying moment she held on to him, fearing they would both die.

Speaking to Serbian outlet Nova, Svetlana Grkovic said her husband, Ljubisa Karović, was pulled headfirst towards the shattered window after an engine failure reportedly caused debris to smash the aircraft's acrylic window shortly after take-off.

“Half of his body was sticking out of the plane,” Grkovic told Nova.

“I immediately reacted and grabbed his legs,” she said, adding that he was “outside up to his chest” for two minutes.

She said two fellow passengers helped pull her husband back inside after he lost consciousness several times. Recalling the ordeal, she said: “If we die, we die together.”

The Malta Air operated Ryanair flight had departed Thessaloniki, Greece, for Memmingen, Germany, before returning to Thessaloniki following the incident.

Karović, 61, remains in hospital in Greece with serious injuries.

“It’s important to me that he’s alive. His hand is particularly badly injured, and he’s got burns. He’s not able to communicate, he doesn’t remember the whole event,” Grković told Nova.

Ryanair said the aircraft returned to Thessaloniki after “a passenger window dislodged in flight” and landed safely.

The airline said a replacement aircraft was provided, while Greek aviation authorities are investigating the incident.