O’Leary told analysts at Ryanair’s April-to-June results presentation on July 20 that the initial indication pointed to “foreign object damage to the engine on takeoff” from Thessaloniki but that the airline could not yet confirm it, Reuters reported.
He linked the cabin depressurization to a suspected fan blade problem.
The Boeing 737-800 operating flight FR1879 was climbing out of Thessaloniki toward Memmingen, near Munich, when passengers heard a loud bang. A window failed, the cabin lost pressure, and oxygen masks dropped.
A woman aboard told Greek broadcaster Radio Thessaloniki that most passengers were asleep and woke to a sound like a bursting tire.
Flight-tracking site AirNav Radar said the aircraft turned back at about 16,000 feet, or roughly 4,900 meters, and landed safely in Thessaloniki about an hour after departure, CNN reported.
Ljubisa Karovic, a 61-year-old Serbian passenger seated by the window, was pulled headfirst into the opening.
The BBC reported that his wife, Svetlana Grkovic Maksimovic, said his head and right shoulder were outside the plane.
His seatbelt held him, his wife gripped his legs, and two other passengers dragged him back inside.
AP reported that a Greek hospital official said he was treated for neck and shoulder injuries and friction burns and was otherwise in good condition. Ryanair arranged a replacement aircraft to fly the passengers on to Germany.
O’Leary disputed that account. He dismissed some of the coverage as sensational and told the presentation that everyone aboard was belted in and that no one was out of any window.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said a piece of the engine broke off and struck the window shortly after takeoff.
A broken window and the interior of the Ryanair aircraft, following a reported emergency landing, in location given as Thessaloniki, Greece, July 10, 2026, in this picture obtained from social media. Photo by Despoina Papapavlou via Reuters
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation after Greece’s Hellenic Air and Rail Safety Investigation Authority delegated the role to it, a step international rules permit when the aircraft is U.S.-made, AP reported.
Investigators first believed the failure occurred over North Macedonia before placing it in Greek airspace. Greece is participating in the probe, and Ryanair said its staff are assisting on the ground.
The jet was 18 years old, and its engine, a CFM International CFM56-7B, had been fully serviced and overhauled within the past two years, O’Leary told analysts, Reuters reported.
The suspected fan blade failure drew comparisons to two Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 accidents in 2016 and 2018, the second of which killed a passenger partly pulled through a broken window.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told Reuters the case has prompted a re-evaluation of how such incidents are handled.
Neil Sorahan, Ryanair’s group chief financial officer, told The Guardian the 737 is “probably the safest aircraft ever built” and said the airline’s customer care team had been in touch with the family.
He said it was far too soon to discuss compensating the couple while the investigation continues.
O’Leary said a draft report is expected in about 28 days, followed by a more detailed report.
Reuters describes Ryanair as Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers. Euronews reported the carrier’s traffic rose 4% to 208.4 million passengers in its 2025-26 financial year, despite Boeing delivery delays that constrained capacity growth.
