Overview
- A Malta Air‑operated Boeing 737‑800 carrying Ryanair passengers suffered a cabin window detachment that caused rapid decompression and left a 61‑year‑old man partly sucked out before other travellers and crew pulled him back and the plane returned to Thessaloniki.
- The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is leading the multi‑national investigation with technical help from the FAA and Boeing after the FAA reported that a fragment separated from the right engine and struck the window.
- Video and photos show visible damage to the engine cowling and a missing engine piece, and Ryanair’s CEO said initial findings point to foreign object damage while stressing investigators have not reached a definitive cause.
- Ryanair said the aircraft was about 18 years old and recently overhauled, it expects to issue a draft internal incident report in roughly 28 days, and forensic teams are examining engine and airframe components for failure origins.
- If investigators confirm an uncontained engine failure or similar systemic fault, regulators could order targeted inspections or airworthiness directives for 737 Next Generation engines, echoing steps taken after prior 737 NG engine incidents.