Foreign object damage to an engine on takeoff is the likely cause of a Ryanair window blowout that partly sucked a passenger from the cabin, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said on Sunday, citing initial findings from the investigation into the 10 July incident at Thessaloniki.
The US National Transportation Safety Board is leading the probe into the Boeing 737 NG incident, in which a piece of engine broke off and smashed a window, causing rapid decompression and an emergency landing. O'Leary said the aircraft's age and maintenance record were not factors, and that findings point to damage from a foreign object during departure from the Greek airport.
Passenger Ljubisa Karovic, a 61-year-old Serbian national, remains hospitalised with severe injuries after being partly forced through the broken window.