Washington (CNN) — A jet engine fan blade on a Boeing 737 broke free and slammed into the side of the passenger cabin, breaking a window and leading to a man being partially sucked outside the aircraft, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report on Thursday.
The July 10 Ryanair flight to Memmingen, Germany, had taken off less than 10 minutes earlier and was forced to return to Thessaloniki in Greece for an emergency landing.
The head and shoulders of 61-year-old Ljubisa Karovic, sitting in seat 11F, were sucked out the window, causing significant injuries, his wife told Reuters. She and the flight attendant pulled him back into the plane, she said.
Seven and a half minutes after takeoff, the pilots got a warning for high engine vibrations, according to the report. Nearly two minutes later, the vibrations increased significantly and pilots “heard a loud bang” as the autopilot disengaged.
“Examination of the airplane revealed that the No. 2 engine, a CFM International model CFM56-7B26, experienced a fan blade separation that resulted in engine fragments striking the fuselage and the right horizontal stabilizer.,” the report said.
The CFM-56 engine, built by a joint venture between French Safran Aircraft Engines and GE Aerospace, is one of the most widely used in aviation.
The shrapnel tore through the metal surrounding the engine, shattering the window at row 11, leaving a dent in the plane near row 8 and puncturing the body below the wing, as well as gouging and denting the tail, the NTSB said.
Evidence of fatigue cracking, the gradual fracturing of metal due to repeated stress greater than would be expected for the number of flights, was discovered on what remained of the blade that broke off, the NTSB said. Eight other blades were deformed on the leading edge.
Bird remains, which included feathers, were also recovered in the damaged engine but it was not clear when the plane last hit birds. Four suspected bird strikes were reported within the year before the incident but no damage was found at those times.
The plane’s fan blades had last been inspected less than three weeks before because of a rule implemented after a similar incident. In 2018 a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 fan blade snapped, shattering a window and sucking a woman’s head and torso outside of the plane. She later died of blunt force trauma.
NTSB will lead investigation
With the Ryanair flight, the 18-year-old Boeing 737-8AS was flying at about 16,000 feet in Greek air space when the window blew out.
The Hellenic Air and Rail Safety Investigation Authority asked the NTSB to lead the inquiry, as permitted under international rules. Greece will participate as an “accredited representative,” according to the NTSB.
The NTSB report, which cited the fatigue cracking and said the passenger was “partially lodged in a damaged cabin window” and “other passengers… managed to pull the injured passenger back into the cabin” runs contrary to claims made by Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary in a July earnings call.
“Some of the more salacious reports that one passenger was halfway out the window, head out the window. Nobody was out any window,” O’Leary said. “Initial indication would suggest that it looks like a foreign object damage to the engine on takeoff out of Thessaloniki.”
The NTSB faulted him for commenting on the investigation while it remains open in a letter from Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy.
“The NTSB is currently investigating that accident and therefore, accredited representatives and their technical advisers are prohibited from making any comments regarding the potential cause of the event or otherwise conveying potential investigative information,” Homendy said in the letter. “Mr. O’Leary’s public statements violate (international rules) as they provide an opinion and analysis of the accident and suggest potential areas of interest in the ongoing investigation.”
NTSB investigations typically take one to two years to complete and are concluded with a final report that determines the probable cause and any contributing factors.
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