Ryanair CEO disputes report that injured passenger was partly pulled through shattered window

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has disputed reports that a passenger injured on a July flight was partly pulled through a shattered window. Ljubisa Karovic suffered neck and shoulder injuries and friction burns after the window broke shortly after takeoff on a July 10 flight from northern Greece to Germany.

Karovic’s wife and witnesses said the pressure drop pulled his head and shoulders toward the opening. His wife said she held onto his legs while other passengers helped pull him back into the aircraft. O’Leary acknowledged that Karovic was injured and entitled to compensation, though not “millions and millions.”

Speaking after the Irish budget airline’s annual general meeting in Dublin, O’Leary said Ryanair did not believe any part of Karovic’s body went outside the window, though he was drawn toward it in dramatic circumstances. Karovic was wearing a seat belt. Passengers intervened, and flight attendants provided a metal box to block the missing window.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report that fragments from a broken fan blade in the right engine of the Boeing 737-800 struck the window, damaging the fuselage and other parts of the aircraft. 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.