Home / Disasters and Accidents / Terrifying Bird Strike: Man's Head Sucked Out Ryanair Window
Terrifying Bird Strike: Man's Head Sucked Out Ryanair Window
14 Aug
Summary
- Bird remains found in damaged engine after flight incident.
- Passenger hospitalized after head briefly sucked out window.
- Engine fan blades damaged fuselage and cracked a window.
A flight operated by Malta Air, a Ryanair subsidiary, experienced a terrifying incident last month involving a severe bird strike.
Less than ten minutes after departing Greece, the aircraft's engine began vibrating intensely, accompanied by a loud bang and the deployment of oxygen masks for 149 passengers. A preliminary investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board revealed bird remains on a damaged engine fan.
The engine's fan blades ricocheted across the fuselage, cracking a window. A 61-year-old Serbian passenger was partially sucked out of the shattered window but was pulled back in by his wife and other passengers. He was hospitalized with friction burns.
The Boeing 737, which had been flying since 2008, returned to Thessaloniki International Airport. The engine's fan blades had been inspected in May with no findings, despite the engine suspecting four bird strikes in the preceding year.
Full investigation results are expected in one to two years. Bird strikes remain a common aviation hazard.
