Ryanair passenger injured after window shatters mid-flight

A Ryanair flight departing from Thessaloniki was forced to return to the runway after a passenger window shattered mid-flight.

The Irish carrier had been heading to Munich from the Greek city's Macedonia Airport on Friday morning (10 Jul) when it experienced a serious engine failure soon after departure, local authorities have confirmed.

The error was detected as the aircraft flew over nearby North Macedonia, prompting the pilots to decide to return to Thessaloniki, as it could be resolved while the jet was in the air.

Amid the emergency, a fragment of the engine also became dislodged, striking a passenger window and inflicting injury on the traveller sat nearby.

Despite there being no breach within the plane's fuselage, precautionary oxygen masks were quickly deployed for passengers, causing widespread panic amongst those on board.

The aircraft returned safely to the ground (Sakis Mitrolidis / AFP via Getty Images)

Emergency procedures were immediately activated amongst staff at Macedonia Airport, with firefighters, police and ambulance rushing to the runway, where they remained on standby until the aircraft reached the ground.

The plane landed safely before being moved to a designated section of the runway, where an investigation into the cause of the engine failure was launched by aviation authorities.

A total of four passengers are understood to have been transported to hospital for precautionary medical checks, three of whom were subsequently discharged. One passenger has since remained under observation by hospital staff.

Ryanair has since provided Tyla with a statement on the situation, confirming that one passenger required medical assistance upon reaching the ground.

One of the windows shattered (Getty Stock Image)

"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," a spokesperson confirmed.

"The aircraft landed normally, and passengers returned to the terminal."

They added: "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."

Speaking to Radio Thessaloniki (as cited by France24), one passenger who was not injured this morning recalled: "Most of us had fallen asleep, we had closed our eyes. There was a noise, like a tyre bursting."

One passenger was kept in hospital (Sakis Mitrolidis / AFP via Getty Images)

"We immediately realised there had been a decompression. There were screams. For a moment I thought someone had accidentally opened the emergency door."

She continued: "The masks dropped, and there was a strong smell. The head and shoulders of one passenger were outside the window. Fortunately, he hadn't taken off his seat belt."