NTSB to Lead Investigation of Ryanair Boeing 737 Window Incident

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said July 17 it will lead the investigation into an incident in which a passenger was partly sucked out of a Ryanair Boeing 737’s broken window over Greece on July 10, nypost.com reported. Greece delegated the lead role to the agency.

A piece of engine broke off the Boeing 737 NG and smashed the window shortly after takeoff from Thessaloniki, Greece, according to video and the Federal Aviation Administration, nypost.com reported. The plane, headed to Germany, lost pressure and made an emergency landing. Serbian national Ljubisa Karovic was pulled partway out of the window.

Fellow passengers held on to him, and his wife Svetlana Grkovic pulled him back inside. Karovic was injured and hospitalized. Svetlana Grkovic was photographed outside the hospital in Thessaloniki on July 14.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told Reuters that early indications are that the Ryanair incident does not mimic the 2018 Southwest incident. Bedford said the ongoing investigation is prompting a full reevaluation of the FAA response to the 2018 incident. After the 2018 Southwest incident, the NTSB called on Boeing to redesign the fan cowl structure on 737 NG planes.

The FAA issued an airworthiness directive in 2023 requiring the work to be completed by 2028. Southwest said July 17 it has completed the work on approximately 80 percent of its affected planes and is ahead of schedule to meet the July 2028 deadline. Ryanair uses CFM56 engines from manufacturer CFM International on all of its Boeing 737 NG models.

The NG is the 737 version that preceded the current MAX generation.