In the Ryanair plane, the passenger ‘almost jumped out of the window in mid-air

A passenger on a Ryanair plane nearly jumped out of the cabin window in mid-air.

Witnesses told local media that the man, said to be a Serbian national in his 60s, hung his head out of the window for several minutes before other passengers on the flight helped him back inside.

In a statement, Ryanair said the flight from the Greek city of Thessaloniki to Memmingen, Germany, was turned back “shortly after takeoff when a passenger window dislodged the flight.”

He continued: “The plane landed normally and the passengers returned to the terminal. One passenger requested and received medical attention on the ground in Thessaloniki.”

Irish Budget Airlines added several hours later that “a replacement aircraft has been arranged to bring passengers to Memmingen”.

Media reports in Greece and Germany have reported that passengers on the Boeing 737 were hit hard after takeoff, with windows breaking and oxygen masks falling from the roof.

They believe the window was shattered by pieces of the plane’s engine – although Ryanair has not commented on this.

“Immediately we realized there was a depression. There were screams… for a moment I thought someone suddenly opened the emergency door,” fellow passenger Christina told Radio Thessaloniki.

“The mask was down and there was a strong smell. One passenger’s head and shoulders were outside the window. Luckily he didn’t take off his seat belt.”

The plane – believed to be 18 years old – is operated by Ryanair Malta Air.

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) later told the BBC it was “aware of the incident on a Ryanair Group aircraft registered and operated by Air Malta which took off from Thessaloniki this morning”.

“The IAEA will provide any assistance requested to the Aviation Safety Investigation Authority in Greece and the Malta Civil Aviation Directorate to assist in their investigation,” he said.

In the year In 2018, a passenger died when the wreckage of a damaged engine smashed a window on a Southwest Airlines flight in the US and she was partially drunk.