Four people were taken to hospital after the incident.

11:13, Fri, Jul 10, 2026 Updated: 11:28, Fri, Jul 10, 2026

A smashed window on a Ryanair flight

The incident happened on a Ryanair flight departing from Greece (Image: rthess.gr)

A Ryanair flight was forced to return to its departing airport in Greece after a terrifying incident disrupted the trip shortly after take-off. Flight FR1879 from Thessaloniki to Memmingen, Germany, reportedly suffered serious engine failure while flying over North Macedonia, per Ekathimerini.

The Boeing 737-8AS returned to the Greek hub as the issue, which sent a piece of debris flying through a cabin window, could not be resolved in the air. During the horrifying ordeal, witnesses said a 61-year-old Serbian passenger was nearly sucked through the broken window and had to be held down by his wife.

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A Row of Airplanes belonging to Ryanair Parked at the tarmac at Stansted Airport, London, UK

(File photo) The plane had to return to Greece. (Image: Getty)

They told Greek outlet ERT that he became "sucked" into the air from his seat, while his wife held onto him for roughly five minutes before other passengers joined in to pull him back down.

One witness said his head and shoulders were "sticking out of a broken window".

The flight took off at 5.55am local time and got to a cruising altitude of 20,000ft when the window was struck.

It then returned to Thessaloniki, where Ryanair confirmed one passenger received medical assistance. A replacement plane was arranged to take the passengers back to Memmingen, departing at 9.53am.

A Ryanair spokesperson said: "A Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen on Friday morning (10 July) returned to Thessaloniki shortly after take-off when a passenger window dislodged inflight.

"The aircraft landed normally and passengers returned to the terminal. One passenger requested and received medical assistance on the ground in Thessaloniki.

"In order to minimise any delay, a replacement aircraft was arranged to bring passengers to Memmingen which departed Thessaloniki at 9:53 local this morning."