Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary disputes report that passenger was partly sucked out of shattered window

The CEO of Ryanair on Thursday disputed that a passenger injured during a flight on one of its planes in July was partly sucked out a broken window.

Ljubisa Karovic injured his neck and shoulder and had friction burns after the window shattered shortly after take-off on 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 the window. His wife said she held onto his legs and other passengers helped pull him back in the jet.

Airline chief Michael O’Leary acknowledged Karovic was injured and was entitled to compensation but not “millions and millions.”

“He wasn’t partially out the window,” O’Leary said after the Irish budget airline’s annual general meeting in Dublin. “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 had a seat belt on at the time. Passengers intervened and a metal box provided by flight attendants was used to block the missing window.

The window shattered after being struck by fragments from a broken fan blade in the Boeing 737-800’s right engine that damaged the fuselage and other parts of the plane, the US National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report.

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 returned safely to Greece.

瑞安航空首席执行官周四否认了7月份该公司一架飞机上受伤的一名乘客是被吸出破损窗户的说法。

7 月 10 日，从希腊北部飞往德国的航班起飞后不久，窗户破碎，导致 Ljubisa Karovic 颈部和肩部受伤，并有摩擦烧伤。

卡罗维奇的妻子和目击者称，机舱内气压骤降导致他的头部和肩膀被拉出窗外。他的妻子说，她当时抓住了他的腿，其他乘客也帮忙把他拉回了飞机内。

航空公司首席执行官迈克尔·奥利里承认卡罗维奇受伤，有权获得赔偿，但并非“数百万美元”。

“他并非身体的一部分被甩出窗外，”奥利里在都柏林举行的爱尔兰廉价航空公司年度股东大会后表示。“我们认为他身体的任何部分都没有被甩出窗外，但他的确是在非常戏剧性的情况下被吸向窗户的。”

卡罗维奇当时系着安全带。乘客们上前干预，乘务员提供了一个金属箱，用来堵住缺失的窗户。

美国国家运输安全委员会在一份初步报告中称，波音 737-800 右侧发动机断裂的风扇叶片碎片击中窗户后将其击碎，碎片还损坏了机身和飞机的其他部件。

乘务员告诉调查人员，他们听到并感觉到持续的剧烈震动，看到烟雾或雾气充满了机舱，然后氧气面罩从天花板上掉下来。

飞机安全返回希腊。