A passenger who was almost sucked out of a window on a Ryanair jet claims the airline has done nothing for him except to offer to rebook his flight.
Ljubisa Karovic was asleep on an early-morning flight from Greece to Germany when the window next to him exploded, causing him to be partially pulled through at 20,000ft.
The 61-year-old, a father of two from Serbia, said no one from the airline had called him in the two weeks since his near-death experience.
Karovic told the Daily Mail: “All we’ve had is emails to my son, who booked our flights, asking if we want to rebook and asking how I was. But nobody from the company has contacted me directly – not even a phone call to show any concern.”
Karovic was saved by his wife Svetlana and fellow passengers who rushed to hold him inside the plane by his legs.
Karovic, 48, claimed that while they were battling to hold on to her husband, the crew members on board “didn’t do anything”.
“They looked more scared than us. It was only the passengers who helped and were brave,” she added.
Karovic suffered serious friction burns and bruises along his right arm and chest in the incident on July 10.
Witnesses on board flight FR1879 from Thessaloniki in Greece to Memmingen in Germany said he was dangling diagonally out of the aircraft “like Superman flying through the air”.
Karovic said he did not remember anything from the incident because he immediately passed out.
But he added: “The whole thing has been like a nightmare. I can’t even sleep at night, all I can hear when I close my eyes is the sound of an explosion and then there is chaos in my head.”
After the incident, which led to the sudden loss of air pressure in the cabin, the Ryanair pilot immediately brought the aircraft to a safer altitude as crew and passengers put on oxygen masks.
Once Karovic was hauled back in and the plane steadied, he was moved to another seat. The Boeing 737 returned to Thessaloniki and was met by medical staff and an ambulance.
Vasilis Tsiaras, a Greek lawyer, has vowed to secure “significant compensation” for the couple.
He said: “My client came back from the brink of death, and we want to make sure that whoever is responsible for this is held accountable. It’s not just about compensation, but about establishing the truth as to what happened and the condition of this aircraft.
“There are also serious concerns about the conduct of the Ryanair crew. They were gripped by fear that the plane was about to crash, which prevented them from doing anything to help Mr Karovic as he was hanging out of the aircraft.”
The incident is being investigated by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which has already examined the aircraft and will issue a draft report in around 28 days.
Ryanair told the Daily Mail it was not making any comment while the incident is under investigation. But in earlier responses to the media, the company insisted its planes were safe and claimed it had been in contact with the family.
Neil Sorahan, Ryanair’s group chief financial officer, said: “Our customer care team have actively been in touch with the family since the incident. Our crew did a phenomenal job and got the aircraft back to Thessaloniki. Everyone, bar none, walked off the aircraft. It was a great job done by the cabin crew and the pilots.
“We welcome the appointment of the NTSB. They are going to do a full, independent investigation. We are participating fully. We have people on the ground actively involved in assisting.”
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