Ryanair plane lands in Greece after window comes off

2026-07-11

Window comes off shortly after takeoff

Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair said on the 10th that a passenger window came off shortly after takeoff on a Boeing aircraft, forcing an emergency landing in Greece. One passenger sitting near the window was injured. Engine trouble was believed to be among the causes.

In a statement, the company said it turned back to Thessaloniki Airport after a passenger window came off in flight shortly after takeoff. The aircraft landed safely and passengers returned to the terminal. One person received medical treatment in Thessaloniki, it said.

One passenger injured

According to flight-tracking site Flightradar24, the flight departed Thessaloniki Airport, the largest airport in northern Greece, shortly after 4 a.m. local time. It was scheduled to head to Memmingen Airport in Germany, but after climbing to about 4,900 meters it descended and landed on the runway. It was operated by Malta Air, a Ryanair subsidiary.

Local media said the injured passenger was a 61-year-old Serbian man. Although he was wearing a seat belt, his upper body was said to have ended up outside the window. The man's wife grabbed his legs and, with help from other passengers, pulled him back into the cabin. He is said to be receiving treatment for friction burns. Cabin pressure dropped and oxygen masks also fell.

U.S. authorities and aircraft background

Passengers said they heard an explosion. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said the same day that it had received a report from North Macedonia's aircraft accident and incident investigation commission that the Ryanair plane had turned back due to 'a malfunction in the right engine and cabin depressurization'.

The aircraft involved was Boeing's older 737NG model and is believed to have been operated by Ryanair since 2008. The company is Europe's largest low-cost carrier and operates more than 600 Boeing aircraft. Many airlines in Japan also use the same aircraft model.

Boeing said it would cooperate with the authorities' investigation and support its customer Ryanair. In 2018, a passenger died in an accident involving the same model operated by Southwest Airlines after a window cracked, with debris from an engine failure damaging the window.

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