'If we die, we die together', thought wife of man nearly sucked out of plane
Passengers reported a loud noise as the window was smashed, followed by chaos on board the plane as oxygen masks dropped
A woman who managed to hold on to her husband as he was sucked out of a Ryanair aircraft last Friday has described thinking "if we die, we die together."
Ljubiša Karović, from Serbia, was partially sucked out of the aircraft when debris from a damaged engine smashed a window, causing decompression.
His quick-thinking wife Svetlana Grković grabbed him by his legs until other passengers hauled him back in.
"I reacted immediately and grabbed his legs. I thought: If we die, we die together. It was horrible," she told the Nova news agency.
The incident happened shortly after the Boeing 737, operated by Ryanair subsidiary Malta Air, took off from Thessaloniki on a flight to Memmingen, Germany.
Passengers reported a loud noise as the window was smashed, followed by chaos on board the plane as oxygen masks dropped. Some passengers panicked and others rushed to help Karović.
"Some people came to my aid, I remember one man and one woman,' she added. 'That man helped me a lot. He helped me save my husband's life."
Karović was eventually pulled back into the aircraft as it turned around and landed safely back in Thessaloniki.
He remains in hospital and is believed to be unable to speak due to his injuries. He also has friction burns and is in a state of severe shock. He lost consciousness several times during the incident and cannot remember much of what happened, the agency reported.
A technical investigation into the incident is being conducted by investigators from Greece, as the flight's country of origin, Malta, where the Boeing 737 was registered, and the USA, where it was manufactured.