NTSB Says Fan Blade Shattered Ryanair Window

A fan blade broke off the right engine of a Ryanair Boeing 737-800 shortly after takeoff from Greece last month, throwing fragments that shattered a cabin window and partially sucked a passenger through the hole, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report Thursday.

Other passengers pulled the man back inside. He survived.

Investigators also found bird remains and feathers on the damaged engine.

What Happened

The flight left Thessaloniki, Greece, on July 10, bound for Germany.

About 7.5 minutes after takeoff, the pilots got a high engine vibration warning, according to the report.

The passenger — 61-year-old Ljubisa Karovic, seated in 11F — suffered neck and shoulder injuries and friction burns.

Fragments struck the fuselage near row 8, punctured the body of the aircraft below the wing and gouged the tail.

The Inspection Question

The NTSB reported evidence of fatigue cracking on the separated blade — metal failing under repeated stress — and noted the fleet's fan blades were last ultrasonically inspected in May 2026 with no damage found.

The same engine had four suspected bird strikes reported in the prior 12 months.

The engine is a CFM56, the same model involved in a 2018 Southwest Airlines accident in which a broken fan blade shattered a window and killed a passenger.