A routine flight took a terrifying turn when part of a passenger’s body ended up outside the aircraft, thousands of feet in the air. According to the BBC, a Malta Air Boeing 737 had just taken off from Thessaloniki, Greece, on Friday and was headed to Memmingen, Germany, when a window shattered.
With the window gone, the head and neck of a 60-year-old Serbian man sitting near the window was pulled through the opening. Passengers near the man had to pull him back in to prevent him from being ejected from the plane.
A passenger named Christina spoke to Radio Thessaloniki Friday after the plane had landed and described what she experienced.
“We immediately realized there had been a decompression,” Christina said via BBC. “There were screams. … For a moment I thought someone had accidentally opened the emergency door. The masks dropped and there was a strong smell. The head and shoulders of one passenger were outside the window. Fortunately, he hadn’t taken off his seat belt.”
The plane was able to divert back to Thessaloniki and land safely.
Ryanair, the Irish budget airline that operates Malta Air, released a statement after the incident, saying one passenger asked for and received medical attention when the plane was on the ground. The company also said a replacement plane was being arranged so passengers could continue their trip to Germany.
One of the passengers on the plane told reporters in Greece and Germany that they thought pieces of the plane’s engine had broken off and hit the window, causing it to shatter. But, according to the BBC, Ryanair did not comment on the claim.
The investigation is ongoing, and the extent of the passenger’s injuries remains unknown.
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Chris Franklin | NJ.com; nj.com; (TNS) || ©2026 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit nj.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
