Bird remains were found inside the engine of a Ryanair aircraft after a Serbian passenger was partially pulled through a shattered cabin window during a dramatic midair emergency over Greece. The discovery is now part of the ongoing investigation into the engine failure that forced the aircraft to make an emergency return to Thessaloniki. The incident happened on July 10 shortly after the Boeing 737 800 took off for Memmingen, Germany. A fan blade in the aircraft’s right engine broke loose, sending fragments into the fuselage. The debris shattered a window near a passenger seated in row 11, causing a sudden loss of cabin pressure. Investigators have not yet determined what caused the fan blade to fail. However, the discovery of bird remains inside the engine has become an important new part of the investigation.
The 61 year old Serbian passenger suffered serious injuries after his head and part of his body were pulled toward and partially through the damaged window. Other passengers managed to pull him back inside the cabin as the emergency unfolded. A doctor who was on board provided medical assistance while the crew responded to the rapidly developing situation. Oxygen masks deployed after the aircraft lost cabin pressure. The pilots declared an emergency and turned the plane back toward Thessaloniki. The aircraft landed safely, allowing emergency services to take over and assist the injured passenger. The incident became one of the most dramatic aviation emergencies of the summer. Investigators are now examining every stage of the engine failure to determine exactly what happened.
The preliminary investigation found bird remains in the damaged engine, while flight crews had also reported four suspected bird strikes involving the same engine during the previous 12 months. Bird remains had reportedly been found in two of those earlier cases, although subsequent inspections did not identify any damage. The engine fan blades had passed recent ultrasonic inspections, including one conducted in May 2026. Investigators have stressed that the presence of bird remains does not yet prove that a bird strike caused the fan blade to break. Aviation experts are continuing to examine the damaged engine, previous bird strike reports and other possible factors. The latest discovery has provided investigators with an important clue, but the exact cause of the failure remains unknown. Authorities say it is still too early to determine whether bird activity was directly responsible for the chain of events that led to the shattered window and emergency landing. The investigation into the dramatic Ryanair emergency is continuing.
