“If we die, we die together,” Svetlana Grkovic thought as her husband was partially sucked toward the shattered window of a Ryanair plane at an altitude of about 20,000 feet.
In her first interview since the dramatic incident, Grkovic described how she held onto her husband Ljubisa’s legs for long minutes, recalled the passengers who rushed to help her and gave an update on his condition as he remains hospitalized.
Grkovic told the Serbian website Nova.rs that she and her husband were returning from a vacation in Greece and had dozed off in their seats when they suddenly heard a loud explosion.
“It was as if part of the engine had detached and hit the window next to where my husband Ljubisa was sitting,” she said. “When the window shattered, there was a drop in cabin pressure. The pressure pulled Ljubisa outside. Luckily, he was wearing his seat belt, but half of his body was already outside the plane. I immediately grabbed him by the legs. I thought: ‘If we die, we die together.’ It was terrible.”
Within seconds, she said, chaos spread through the cabin. Oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling, some passengers panicked and others rushed to help.
“One man and one woman came to my aid,” she said. “That man helped me a lot, and together we held Ljubisa’s legs until the plane turned back and landed in Thessaloniki. I think he was Albanian. I would very much like to meet him again and thank him personally.”
The shattered window after landing
(Photo: Despoina Papapavlou via REUTERS)
Grkovic said her husband lost consciousness several times during the incident. “The most important thing for me is that he is alive,” she said. “He was seriously injured and is in shock. His hand was significantly injured and he also has burns. He still cannot communicate and does not remember everything that happened.”
The incident occurred Friday on a Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen, Germany, after one of the aircraft’s windows shattered shortly after takeoff. The plane turned back and landed safely in Thessaloniki, and the passengers continued to Germany on a replacement aircraft.
On Sunday, Reuters reported, citing two sources familiar with the investigation, that part of the engine had detached during the flight and struck the window, a suspicion that has not yet been officially confirmed.
Reuters also reported that the same Ryanair aircraft had returned shortly after takeoff the previous day for reasons that remain unclear.