A woman has described how she desperately held onto her husband’s legs after he was sucked out of a Ryanair plane window.
Ljubiša Karović, from Serbia, was sucked out of the side of flight FR1879 en route to Memmingen in Germany from Thessaloniki in Greece on July 10.
Mr Karović was returning with his wife Svetlana Grković from a summer holiday when part of the plane engine is believed to have broken away, breaking a window and leaving a hole in the side of the Boeing 737-800 jet.
Just moments away from death, the 61-year-old man’s wife described the moment she grabbed onto his legs and hung on to him for around five minutes while the aircraft was still 20,000ft off the ground.
Speaking to local news outlet Nova, his heroic wife said: "It was as if a piece of the engine had broken off and struck the window next to where my husband, Ljubiša, was sitting.
The couple were returning from their summer holidayLjubiša Karović/Facebook"Fortunately, he was wearing his seatbelt. When the window shattered, cabin decompression occurred.
"The pressure pulled Ljubiša—luckily he was strapped in—but half his body was hanging out of the plane. I reacted immediately and grabbed him by the legs.
"I thought to myself: 'If we die, we die together.' It was terrifying."
She thanked two fellow passengers that came to her aid to help rescue her husband in the mid-flight disaster.
The flight returned to Thessaloniki airport in Greece following the “terrifying” incident.
Mr Karović remains in hospital where he is believed to be in a state of shock, suffering friction burns and an inability to speak due to his injuries.
It is understood that oxygen masks were later deployed as the pilot declared an emergency over the tannoy.
A Ryanair spokesperson said: “A Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen on Friday morning (July 10) returned to Thessaloniki shortly after take-off when a passenger window dislodged inflight.
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“The aircraft landed normally and passengers returned to the terminal.
“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 9.53am local this morning.”