The CEO of Ryanair has disputed a passenger’s claim that he was partly sucked out of a broken window during a flight.
Ljubisa Karovic injured his neck and shoulder and had friction burns after the window shattered shortly after takeoff during a flight from northern Greece to Germany on July 10.
Karovic’s wife and witnesses said the pressure drop caused his head and shoulders to be pulled out of the window, and she held onto his legs while other passengers helped pull him back into the jet.
However, on Thursday the airline’s chief Michael O’Leary said the passenger “wasn’t partially out the window”.
After Ryanair’s annual general meeting in Dublin, O’Leary acknowledged Karovic was injured and therefore entitled to compensation, but not “millions and millions”.
He said: “We don’t think any part of his body got out the window, but he was certainly sucked in very dramatic circumstances towards the window.”
Karovic said the “nightmare” experience had left him traumatised.
In an interview with German newspaper Bild in July, Karovic said: “For a moment I was conscious, but then I don’t remember anything until they woke me – I was covered in blood.
“I can’t go out, everything bothers me, mentally I am destroyed, this has had a huge impact on my life. Whenever I hear the sound of a plane, I become stressed.”
The incident happened soon after take-off on a Boeing 737-800 aircraft which departed the Greek city of Thessaloniki bound for Memmingen, Germany.
Karovic had a seat belt on at the time, and afterwards a metal box provided by flight attendants was used to block the missing window.
The window was shattered by fragments from a broken fan blade in the right engine, which damaged the fuselage and other parts of the plane, a preliminary report by the US National Transportation Safety Board said.
Flight attendants told investigators they heard and felt a loud, continuous vibration and saw smoke or fog fill the cabin before oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling.
The plane was forced to turn around and make an emergency landing back in Greece.
Follow STV News on WhatsApp
Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
