The incident in her flight Ryanair-Malta Air from Thessaloniki, where an aircraft window was detached in flight and a passenger risked being found outside the cabin, brought back a rare but scary question: how can an airplane window be broken into the air and how likely it will happen again?
Ljubisa Karovic was traveling with Boeing 737-800 that had taken off from Thessaloniki, when the window next to his position was broken. According to testimonies, his head and shoulders were pulled toward the opening, while his wife and other passengers held him inside the aircraft.
The exact circumstances of the incident have not yet been confirmed by the investigation. But according to passenger reports, the window was reportedly hit by fragments after damage to the right engine, While the plane was flying about 16,000 feet high.
Ryanair stated that the flight returned to Thessaloniki shortly after take-off, when «passenger window detached in flight»The authorities of North Macedonia, over which the aircraft was located, said the plane returned due to a problem in the right engine and decompression of the cabin.
Ryanair Flight: Why didn't the passenger pull out of the plane?
The main question is why the passenger wasn't pulled out. According to testimonies, wore a seat belt, which probably played a decisive role. Additionally, passenger aircraft windows are small and an adult's body can block the opening.
Jason Knight, a fluid engineering lecturer at the University of Portsmouth, explains that the strongest airflow is steep but short. It stops when the pressure inside the cabin equals the pressure outside the aircraft.
Such incidents are extremely rare, but they are not unprecedented. The last known passenger case taken partially out of a broken window was in 2018, on a Southwest Airlines flight from New York to Dallas. Jennifer Riordan recovered back in the cabin from other passengers, but succumbed to her injuries.
And that incident had been noted in Boeing 737 with CFM engines. An engine flap had broken and shattered the window. In the case of the flight of Ryanair-Malta Air, the details have not been confirmed, but the first figures point in a similar direction, with fragments from the engine having hit the window.
There are other examples of sudden decompression. In 2024, on a flight from Alaska Airlines, an entire door section was detached from Boeing 737 Max. The seats next door were empty, which prevented much more serious consequences.
In most modern cases, passengers or crew members found in a similar position managed to survive. Carowitz is being treated with injuries and shock. His wife said he was bleeding from the nose and mouth, had severe arm injury and friction burns.
In 2018, co-pilot of Sichuan Airlines in China was found partly outside a broken Airbus A319 window and suffered a wrist fracture. In 1990, British Airways pilot was held by foot for about 20 minutes, when part of the windshield was detached shortly after takeoff. He survived, though with serious injuries and psychological trauma.
How dangerous are accidents like this?
Risks in such cases are not limited to decompression. Simon Bennett, pilot and director of the political security unit at the University of Lester, says that The main risks are hypoxia, physical injuries and psychological shock.
More exposed are those sitting right next to the window and not wearing a seat belt, especially if they are small enough to pass through the opening. Passengers on the front and rear rows are largely protected from seats. According to Knight, the maximum air speed is recorded right at the point of the broken window, which makes direct proximity to this most dangerous point.
Aeroplanes designed to withstand the loss of a windowυ. Ωστόσο, η απότομη απώλεια πίεσης μπορεί να γίνει πολύ πιο επικίνδυνη σε παλαιότερα αεροσκάφη ή σε αεροσκάφη που δεν έχουν συντηρηθεί σωστά. Σε παλιά σκάφη, μικρές ρωγμές μπορούν να συσσωρεύονται με τον χρόνο και να μετατραπούν σε σοβαρή αδυναμία όταν η άτρακτος δεχθεί απότομο πλήγμα.
Η έρευνα θα δείξει τι ακριβώς συνέβη στην πτήση της Ryanair-Malta Air. Ο Μπένετ, πάντως, εκφράζει ανησυχία για την αυξανόμενη ανάθεση εργασιών κατασκευής και συντήρησης σε εξωτερικούς συνεργάτες, λέγοντας ότι η ιστορία δείχνει πως η συντήρηση είναι συχνά το αδύναμο σημείο.
Για τους επιβάτες, η βασική πρακτική συμβουλή παραμένει απλή. Να φορούν τη ζώνη ασφαλείας όσο κάθονται στη θέση τους και να ακολουθούν αμέσως τις οδηγίες του πληρώματος. Όπως λένε οι ειδικοί, μετά την αρχική αποσυμπίεση ο κίνδυνος να τραβηχτεί κάποιος άλλος έξω ενώ βοηθά είναι μικρός, όμως η αντίδραση του πληρώματος είναι αυτή που πρέπει να καθοδηγεί τους επιβάτες.
With information from Guardian
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