Evidence of bird strike after man nearly sucked out of plane window, NTSB says
A bird strike may have been the cause of an incident in which a passenger was nearly sucked out of a broken window aboard a Ryanair flight in Europe last month, the NTSB found.
August 13, 2026 / 8:35 PM EDT / CBS News
According to the NTSB, on the morning of July 10, the No. 2 engine of Ryanair Flight 1879, a Boeing 737, experienced a failure just minutes after takeoff from Thessaloniki, Greece, as it was bound for Memmingen, Germany.
One of the engine's fan blades broke off, according to the report, sending debris out of the engine, which sliced into the fuselage of the plane at several points, the NTSB determined, damaging the aircraft as well as busting out a passenger window in row 11.
The passenger sitting in that seat was partially sucked out of the plane, suffering serious injuries, the NTSB said.
NTSB investigators discovered evidence of bird remains, including feathers, inside the engine that failed. Pilots received a warning about the engine and then heard a loud bang, the report said.