From ABC7 Los Angeles · · 1m 30s
Ryanair's CEO says the window story is wrong
A shattered window, a passenger pulled toward it, and an airline boss who says the scariest part never happened.
In brief
A shattered window, a passenger pulled toward it, and an airline boss who says the scariest part never happened. A broken fan blade shattered a window mid-flight and injured a passenger; the only dispute is how far out of the plane he actually went. Originally reported by ABC7 Los Angeles.
A window blows out
Shortly after takeoff from northern Greece on July 10, a window shattered on a Ryanair flight bound for Germany. Passenger Ljubisa Karovic hurt his neck and shoulder and got friction burns.
His wife held his legs
Karovic's wife and other witnesses said the pressure drop pulled his head and shoulders out the window. She said she grabbed his legs while passengers helped haul him back in.
The CEO pushes back
Michael O'Leary said after Ryanair's annual meeting in Dublin that Karovic was pulled hard toward the window but never went through it.
“We don't think any part of his body got out the window”
Injured, yes. Millions, no
O'Leary accepted that Karovic was hurt and is owed compensation, but drew a line at what he called "millions and millions."
A fan blade did it
The NTSB's preliminary report says fragments from a broken fan blade in the Boeing 737-800's right engine hit the fuselage and shattered the window.
Smoke, masks, a metal box
Crew reported a loud, continuous vibration and smoke or fog filling the cabin before oxygen masks dropped. Attendants handed over a metal box to plug the hole, and the plane landed safely back in Greece.
At a glance
A broken fan blade shattered a window mid-flight and injured a passenger; the only dispute is how far out of the plane he actually went.
