The wife of a passenger who was sucked through the shattered window of a Ryanair plane desperately clung to his legs for five minutes to stop him being pulled further out of the aircraft, fellow travellers have claimed.

The man was left hanging up to his shoulders outside the aircraft with his head trapped beyond the window as it continued through the air, according to reports.

His wife is said to have held onto his legs until other passengers were able to pull him back into the cabin.

Oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling and terrified travellers feared they 'wouldn't make it' as the jet flew for around 30 minutes with the damaged window.

One witness, who had been sitting at the back of the plane, said they did not initially realise what had happened.

'We thought we were falling,' he said, before describing the injured passenger.

'He had blood on his head. He fainted several times.'

 'We were wearing oxygen masks, we didn't know if we would make it,' the witness added.

The Boeing 737-800, travelling from Thessaloniki, Greece, to Memmingen, Germany, was forced to turn back and make an emergency landing at its departure airport following the dramatic incident.

A witness told the German Press Agency (dpa) that a window had shattered, as seen in videos circulating on social media.

Shortly afterwards, a man seated next to the window was reportedly 'sucked' through the opening, according to German newspaper BILD.

'His head and shoulders were sticking out of the broken window,' another witness told Greek broadcaster ERT.

The man's wife apparently held him by his legs for about five minutes, after which fellow passengers were able to pull him back into the cabin as oxygen masks dropped down.

Ryanair spokesman told the Daily Mail: 'A Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen on Friday morning returned to Thessaloniki shortly after take-off when a passenger window dislodged inflight.

'The aircraft landed normally and passengers returned to the terminal.

'One passenger requested and received medical assistance on the ground in Thessaloniki.

'In order to minimise any delay, a replacement aircraft was arranged to bring passengers to Memmingen which departed Thessaloniki at 9.53am local this morning.'

According to publicly available flight data, the Ryanair plane landed back in Thessaloniki after one hour and 14 minutes.

The injured passenger is believed to be a 61-year-old Serbian national.

He was wounded in the neck by the impact and also sustained abrasions and burns, according to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.

The man is understood to be conscious but in a state of shock.

A pregnant woman also on board the flight was taken to hospital. According to local media, she is in good health and has since left the hospital.

Greek media is speculating that the incident was caused when part of the plane's engine broke off, causing damage to the window.

The pilot then decided to turn around and return immediately to Thessaloniki airport.

Commenting on the incident, the president of the Panhellenic Federation of Public Hospital Employees (POEDIN) claimed there was 'almost a tragedy'.

He said the 'damaged' window gave way and that part of the passenger's body was pulled outside the aircraft before he was restrained by his wife.

People on social media were quick to react to the dramatic incident, with one user writing on X: 'That's terrifying. Always wear your seatbelt folks.'

However, according to a fellow passenger, the man was wearing his seatbelt.

A woman who was on the terrifying flight spoke to Radio Thessaloniki 94.5 about what she witnessed.

'A noise was heard as if a tire had burst. There was panic with screams and voices because we immediately lost altitude from the decompression,' she said.

'For a moment I thought someone had accidentally opened the emergency door. The flight attendants lost it. We all immediately put on our masks. It seemed like a very long time before we understood what was happening.'

Regarding the 61-year-old Serb, she added: 'They grabbed him and held him down; fortunately, he hadn't taken off his seatbelt.

'His head was completely outside the plane. The girls who were next to him were pulling him. Some doctors also went to help him.'

Greek media reported the incident had occurred over North Macedonia, and said the window had been broken by a piece of debris that detached from one of the plane's engines.

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