Ryanair has vowed to fight a passenger who claimed to have been sucked out of an aircraft window after it was smashed by an engine fan blade.
The Irish low cost airline continues to dispute Ljubisa Karović’s account that part of his face was pulled out of the window after the plane experienced a rapid depressurisation.
CEO Michael O’Leary said reports that Mr Karović was saved by his wife holding on to him were ‘delusional’ and insisted that no part of the passenger’s body was pulled out of the Boeing 737.
Asked about the case, he said: ‘He was certainly sucked towards the window, but he didn’t get out the window. He wasn’t partially out the window.’
He admitted that Mr Karović had been sucked towards the window ‘in very dramatic circumstances’ and had suffered injuries but maintained that his seat belt would have prevented him from leaving the aircraft.
He continued: ‘His wife who claims she saved him by hanging onto his feet is certainly somewhat delusional given that she was sitting in a seat three rows behind him.’
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In his own recollection of events, Mr Karović told the Guardian that he had blacked out after the window beside him blew out.
A fellow passenger attempted to block the window with a bag which was sucked out and then a larger suitcase which succeeded in plugging the hole.
His wife Svetlana Grković recalled seeing him being half inside and outside the plane while it was flying at around 18,000 ft.
Mr Karović suffered from a serious hand injury and spent days in hospital unable to speak following his ordeal.
Mr O’Leary, long known for his outspoken tone, said the airline would fight Mr Karović’s claims in court.
The Ryanair boss added Mr Karović had a ‘very excitable lawyer down in Greece who’s talking about class action suits and millions and millions and millions.’
‘He [Mr Karović] won’t be getting millions and millions and we don’t believe there’s any basis for any class action suits either, but ambulance chasing lawyers like the sound of their own voices’, he said.
The incident onboard Flight 1879, operated by Malta Air, is the subject of an ongoing investigation by US agency NTSB, which investigates matters relating to American-made aircraft.
Greek investigators are also probing the incident flight, which originated in Thessaloniki.
Videos of the flight, bound for Memmingen in Germany, showed other passengers donning oxygen masks after they dropped from overhead panels following the depressurisation.
Others recounted hearing a loud noise resembling a tyre bursting as the window blew out.
Inquiries are expected to focus on why the engine fan blades fractured at its base as well as the role of a possible bird strike after remains were found in the damaged engine.
During a press conference on Thursday, Mr O’Leary also renewed his calls for Nats chief Martin Rolfe to resign following the air traffic control outage this week.
The Ryanair chief accused Mr Rolfe of ‘telling lies to save his own skin’ after the Nats director insisted the Tuesday incident was like nothing his organisation has experienced in ‘more than 50 years in operation’.
He said: ‘This guy should be fired. He gets paid a basic salary of £500,000 and a bonus of nearly £900,000 a year to deliver the worst ATC service in Europe.’
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