Ryanair CEO slammed in rare warning letter after passenger ‘nearly sucked through’ Boeing plane window

Irish budget-airline Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary came under fire in a rare warning issued by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Wednesday (US time) after a 61-year-old passenger was almost sucked out of a Boeing 737 NG aircraft operated by the carrier’s subsidiary Malta Air.

As the near-fatal disaster struck when the jet was flying over Greece thousands of feet in the air, the US NTSB announced July 16 that it would lead the investigation into the incident. Despite the probe still being underway, Ryanair’s outspoken CEO said in a public earnings call on Monday that an initial finding suggested “foreign object damage” was responsible for the near-catastrophic horror, as quoted by Reuters.

In its letter (as seen on social media and quoted by Reuters) published Wednesday, the National Transportation Safety Board sternly contradicted O’Leary’s remarks dismissing the aircraft’s age or servicing conditions as what may have factored into the terrifying development. Although the NTSB rarely issues a rebuke, a copy of its admonishing letter to the Ryanair CEO is now circulating online and has gone viral. Therein, the agency’s chief asserted that Michael O’Leary’s statement violated international rules governing investigations into aircraft incidents.

US officials reprimand Ryanair CEO after terrifying plane window incident

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy outrightly countered O’Leary’s “foreign object damage” claims in the letter, which she said, “serves as a reminder of the obligations that apply to Ryanair as a technical advisor to the investigation.” The agency further challenged the remarks made by the airline’s top executive, saying, “The NTSB has not made any such determination, and our investigators have not yet ruled out age or servicing issues as contributing to this event.”

What happened: Ryanair passenger opens up about horror

On July 10, a piece of a Malta Air Boeing plane broke off and smashed a window shortly after the jet took off from Thessaloniki in Greece, according to the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) subsequent statement. The plane, originally destined for Germany, was forced to make an emergency landing after it lost pressure.

Airport sources with knowledge of the incident told Reuters at the time that the incident resulted in a near-death episode for a man, who nearly got sucked out of a “dislodged” passenger window, as described by Ryanair. According to Flight tracking website Flightradar24, the plane was ascending through 15,000 feet about six minutes after departure when it suffered an uncontained engine failure.

At the time, Ryanair didn’t immediately confirm claims that a passenger nearly flew out the window, but stated that a person “requested and received medical assistance on the ground in Thessaloniki.”

The traumatised passenger has since been identified as 61-year-old Serbian native Ljubisa Karovic. His wife, Svetlana Grkovic’s swift, heroic reaction to the horror, ultimately helped save his life as she clung to his legs. Other passengers subsequently jumped into action to assist her and pull Karovic back inside.

She previously told Serbian-language outlet Nova, “I immediately reacted and grabbed his legs. I thought: ‘If we die, we die together.’ It was horrible.”

Ljubisa Karovic has also since spoken out about the incident, who had initially fallen asleep during the plane ride, only to be forcefully awakened by a deafening “bang like a bomb.” As quoted by The Express UK, the 61-year-old recalled the horrifying incident, saying that he was left covered in his own blood as half of his body got aggressively pulled outside the plane into freezing conditions.