Passenger Nearly Ejected After Ryanair 737 Window Fails Mid-Flight

Incident occurred during a flight from Greece to Germany, prompting emergency landing.

Meg Godlewski

Friday, July 10, 2026 at 11:32 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

A Ryanair 737-800 aircraft approaches Barcelona Airport. [Credit: AirlineGeeks/William Derrickson]

Key Takeaways:

A Ryanair 737 (operated by Malta Air) experienced a cabin window failure mid-flight, leading to an emergency return to Thessaloniki, Greece.
At approximately 20,000 feet, a 61-year-old passenger was partially ejected (head and shoulders outside) but was pulled back in by other passengers.
The injured passenger sustained neck injuries, scrapes, and burns, and received medical assistance after the aircraft made a normal landing.
The cause of the window failure, possibly due to being struck by a piece of the aircraft's engine, is currently under investigation.

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A passenger aboard a Ryanair 737 was nearly ejected from the aircraft when the cabin window failed mid-flight. Multiple sources stated the window may have been struck by a piece of the aircraft’s engine, which caused the structure to fail, but the airline has not verified this.

The aircraft, operated by Malta Air for Ryanair, took off from the Greek city of Thessaloniki just before 6 a.m. local time on Friday. The flight was heading to Memmingen, Germany.