Bird strike may have caused disastrous Ryanair flight where passenger was nearly sucked out of window: NTSB

A bird strike may have shattered a Ryanair cabin window which caused a passenger out to be nearly sucked out of the plane, a preliminary report issued Thursday by the NTSB found. 

Malta Air Flight 1879 — a Boeing 737-8AS — was climbing past 16,000 feet after departing Greece for Germany, on July 10 when a fan blade in the right engine fractured, according to the US National Transportation Safety Board.

The blade dislodged from the engine and shattered one of the plane’s cabin windows, causing rapid depressurization. 

Punctures are seen on the No. 2 (right) engine inlet cowl outer barrel of a Ryanair flight. NTSB

Investigating teams recovered bird remains, including feathers, from multiple locations inside the damaged engine — and records revealed the aircraft’s right engine had four suspected bird strikes in the 12 months prior to the incident.

While the separated fan blade showed signs of high-amplitude fatigue, investigators noted that organic material was transferred across several adjacent blades.

The NTSB, alongside international safety authorities, is continuing its probe to determine whether the bird strike was the sole cause of the catastrophic engine failure.

The report pointed out that the airplane’s engine covers hadn’t been updated with stronger safety bolts required by recent Federal Aviation Administration rules — though the airline wasn’t breaking any laws, as they still have until July 2028 to implement those safety mandates. 

Meanwhile, Ljubisa Karović was shockingly almost vacuumed out of the airplane midair through the blown-out window at his seat, 11F.

A view of damage to the right side of the fuselage of a Ryanair flight. Evidence of a bird strike was found after a broken window on the flight nearly sucked out a passenger. (NTSB) NTSB

Fellow passengers heroically held on to Karović, 61, and prevented him from being sucked out of the aircraft.

A Serbian national and entrepreneur, Karović told The Guardian that since his incredible near-death experience, it’s the moments before the “chaos, the catastrophe” that keep him awake at night. 

“The explosion is what I remember,” he said. “It’s the noise before the chaos, the noise that is always there when I close my eyes to sleep.

“They tell me I fainted twice and again inside the plane and that my face was briefly swollen and deformed because of the pressure, the rush of air.”

Although the father-of-two suffered serious burns and bruises on his right arm — which span from his armpit to chest — he considers himself lucky to be alive.

“I don’t remember much and my head and neck still hurt,” he told the outlet, “but I am still alive.”

“I am lucky.”