Ryanair added that a replacement aircraft was arranged to take passengers onward to Memmingen several hours later. A rough morning, then a second plane, because apparently air travel sometimes insists on providing a full plot arc.
The aircraft was reportedly a Boeing 737 and was believed to be 18 years old. It was operated by Malta Air, Ryanair’s subsidiary.
Passengers described a bang, masks and panic
Media reports in Greece and Germany quoted passengers saying they heard a loud bang shortly after take-off, followed by the window breaking and oxygen masks dropping from the ceiling.
Some passengers reportedly believed the window may have been hit by pieces from the jet’s engine. Ryanair has not commented on that claim.
Christina, who was also on the flight, told Radio Thessaloniki that passengers immediately understood something serious had happened.
“We immediately realised there had been a decompression. There were screams... for a moment I thought someone had accidentally opened the emergency door,” she said.
“The masks dropped and there was a strong smell. The head and shoulders of one passenger were outside the window. Fortunately, he hadn't taken off his seat belt.”
That seat belt detail is grimly important. In sudden decompression events, even a small structural failure can create powerful forces inside the cabin.
Authorities are looking into the case
The Irish Aviation Authority later told the BBC it was aware of “the incident involving a Ryanair group aircraft, registered and operated by Malta Air, departing Thessaloniki this morning”.
“The IAA will provide any requested assistance to the aviation safety investigation authority in Greece and the Maltese Civil Aviation Directorate, to aid their investigation,” it said.
Because the flight departed from Greece and the aircraft was registered and operated through Malta Air, multiple aviation authorities could be involved in examining what happened.
The incident also recalls a fatal accident in the United States in 2018, when debris from a damaged engine broke a window on a Southwest Airlines flight. A passenger was partially pulled out of the aircraft and later died.
For now, Ryanair has confirmed the window came loose, the return to Thessaloniki and medical assistance for one passenger. The more alarming witness accounts, including how the window failed and whether engine debris was involved, remain matters for investigators rather than airport gossip with oxygen masks attached.
