A woman who stopped her husband from being sucked out of a Ryanair plane due to a smashed window recalled the terrifying moment she held onto him, believing that if they were going to die, they would die together.
On Friday, 61-year-old Ljubisa Karović was pulled headfirst toward the opening after part of the aircraft’s engine reportedly failed, sending debris through the acrylic window.
His wife, Svetlana Grković, told media outlets that his body was hanging outside the plane up to his chest.
She grabbed hold of his legs right away and with help from two other passengers, managed to pull him back inside after about two minutes.
During the ordeal, he reportedly lost consciousness three times.
As the cabin rapidly lost pressure, many passengers rushed away from the damaged section of the aircraft to other seats.
The Malta Air flight, operated on behalf of Ryanair, had taken off from Thessaloniki, Greece, and was heading to Memmingen, Germany. Flight tracking data shows the plane dropped around 9,000 feet roughly 10 minutes after departure.
According to other passengers, Karović had been wearing his seatbelt at the time, which prevented him from being completely pulled out of the aircraft as other travellers held onto him.
Karović remains in a hospital in Greece with serious injuries and is still recovering from the shock of what happened.
According to his wife, one of his hands was badly hurt; he also suffered burns, and has little memory of the incident.
For now, however, she is just grateful he survived.
Grković also expressed her thanks to the passengers who stepped in to help, especially a man she believes was Albanian.
While she never learned his name, she hopes to meet him again one day so she can thank him in person.
Photos and videos from inside the cabin show oxygen masks dropping from the ceiling after the window shattered and the aircraft lost cabin pressure.
One passenger said many people feared the plane was about to crash; the decompression in the cabin also made it hard to breathe.
She said Karović was bleeding and repeatedly passed out, likely because of the lack of oxygen and the trauma.
Another passenger thought someone had opened one of the emergency exits.
According to Thessaloniki Airport operator Fraport Greece, Greece’s air and rail safety investigation authority is currently looking into what caused the incident.
Ryanair said the aircraft safely returned to Thessaloniki after taking off.
The plane eventually landed without further problems; passengers were also taken back to the terminal, and a replacement aircraft was arranged so they could continue to Memmingen later that day.
