Ljubisa Karović, who was partially sucked out of a Ryanair plane window moments after takeoff, has spoken about the lasting impact the terrifying incident has had on him.
Ljubisa Karović was travelling with his wife Svetlana from Thessaloniki, Greece to Memmingen, Germany on July 10 when he woke to what he described as a sound like a bomb going off. The cabin window next to him gave way and the sudden change in pressure pulled his head and shoulders outside the aircraft while the plane was in flight.
“For a moment I was conscious, but then I don’t remember anything until they woke me,” he told German newspaper Bild.
“I was covered in blood.”
Sad update about psychological toll
While Karović was left with severe friction burns and serious injuries to his spine and shoulder, it’s the psychological toll that he says is hardest to bear.
“As soon as I close my eyes, I see pictures of what I experienced – those few minutes, it’s a nightmare,” he said.
“I can’t go out, everything bothers me, mentally I am destroyed. Whenever I hear the sound of a plane, I become stressed.”
Doctors have told him his recovery will take months and that further surgeries are likely.
Wife’s brave action
While Karović was being pulled toward the window, his wife Svetlana grabbed his legs and held on. She told Serbian outlet Nova she did not hesitate for a second.
“I reacted immediately and grabbed his legs. I thought: ‘If we die, we die together.’ It was horrible,” she said.
After an initial moment of shock, other passengers came to help. Svetlana singled out one man – whom she believed to be Albanian – for particular praise, saying he did everything he could to pull her husband back in and then improvised a solution to block the window.
“He tried to block the window, first with a bag that was immediately sucked out and then with a suitcase, which worked,” she said.
“We are eternally grateful to him.”
Svetlana told BBC Serbia that when they finally pulled Karović back inside, “his entire face was deformed and blood was pouring from his nose and mouth.”
Early investigation might have found the cause of the malfunction
Ryanair said early investigations suggest a foreign object struck the plane’s engine shortly after takeoff, breaking off a fan blade which then hit the window next to Karović. The flight returned to Thessaloniki, where Karović received medical assistance on the ground.
In a statement the airline said the aircraft “landed normally and passengers returned to the terminal.”
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