Wife’s desperate grip saves husband from being sucked out of blown out Ryanair plane window mid-flight

A terrified wife has revealed the desperate moments she clung to her husband’s legs as he was almost sucked head-first out of a Ryanair plane after a cabin window blew out mid-flight.

“I thought, ‘If we die, we die together’,” Svetlana Grkovic said after her husband Ljubisa Karovic was partially dragged through the shattered window during the terrifying incident over Europe.

She said the 61-year-old’s head and right shoulder were outside the aircraft for almost two minutes before she and two other passengers managed to haul him back inside.

“His entire face was deformed and blood was pouring from his nose and mouth,” Ms Grkovic told Serbian media.

The nightmare unfolded shortly after the Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki in Greece to Memmingenin Germany took off on Friday.

About 10 minutes into the flight, passengers reported hearing a loud explosion before the aircraft rapidly lost cabin pressure and plunged about 9000ft as pilots turned back to Thessaloniki for an emergency landing.

Passengers described scenes of panic as oxygen levels dropped and people screamed in fear.

Several said they initially believed an emergency exit door had opened before realising a passenger window had blown out.

Ms Grkovic believes debris from the aircraft’s right engine smashed through the window beside her husband, although investigators have not confirmed that theory.

A technical adviser appointed by the family has also suggested an engine failure may have sent debris into the cabin, triggering the decompression.

Despite being partially pulled outside the aircraft, Mr Karovic survived because he was wearing his seatbelt, allowing fellow passengers to grab hold of him.

He suffered serious injuries including burns and severe trauma to his arm and face. He remains in hospital.

“My husband is seriously injured and in shock,” Ms Grkovic said. “He can’t remember everything that happened.”

She admitted that she was also struggling to cope after believing the plane was going to crash.

“Whenever he hears about aeroplanes he starts shaking,” Ms Grkovic said.

“I am in a very bad psychological state ... those images just won’t leave.”

Ryanair confirmed in a statement that the flight returned to Thessaloniki “shortly after take-off when a passenger window dislodged in flight”.

The airline said the Boeing 737-800 landed safely, with one passenger receiving medical attention.

Authorities in Greece have launched an investigation into the incident, with international aviation experts including representatives from Boeing, the US Federal Aviation Administration and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.