Passenger ‘Hangs’ Outside Plane Window Shatters After Mid-Flight (Video)

A Ryanair passenger was nearly pulled out of a shattered airplane window in a terrifying midair emergency that left travelers screaming and praying just minutes after takeoff.

The horrifying scene unfolded Friday morning on a Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki, Greece, to Memmingen, Germany, when a cabin window suddenly broke while the Boeing 737-800 was flying at about 20,000 feet, according to reports.

The passenger, identified only as a 61-year-old Serbian man, was reportedly left with his “head and shoulders” hanging outside the broken window as panicked passengers desperately grabbed him and held him down.

The plane had taken off at 5:55 a.m. when travelers suddenly heard what one passenger described as a noise “like a tire bursting,” according to Radio Thessaloniki and Agence France Presse.

At first, people had no idea what had happened. Then the oxygen masks dropped, a strange smell filled the cabin, and the terrifying reality set in.

“We immediately realised there had been a decompression,” one passenger said. “There were screams … for a moment I thought someone had accidentally opened the emergency door.”

The passenger later said they saw the man partly outside the plane.

“The masks dropped and there was a strong smell,” the passenger recalled. “The head and shoulders of one passenger were outside the window. Fortunately, he hadn’t taken off his seat belt.”

According to CNN Greece, the chaos began after a piece of the plane’s engine reportedly broke off and struck the window, causing it to shatter.

The man’s fellow passengers quickly jumped into action. Michalis Giannakos, president of the Panhellenic Federation of Public Hospital Employees in Greece, told reporters the man’s wife held him down for several minutes as others rushed to help.

“His wife held him down for five minutes so he wouldn’t get out,” Giannakos said, according to Enikos.

“With the help of many passengers, they managed to pull him into the cabin.”

The flight, which had been headed to Memmingen near Munich, turned around and returned to Thessaloniki, where it landed safely.

Passengers were later placed on a replacement flight.

The 61-year-old man was treated for friction burns after the terrifying ordeal, according to Giannakos.

Ryanair confirmed the incident in a statement to The Post.

“A Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen on Friday morning returned to Thessaloniki shortly after take-off when a passenger window dislodged inflight,” a spokesperson said.

“The aircraft landed normally and passengers returned to the terminal. One passenger requested and received medical assistance on the ground in Thessaloniki.”

What began as an early-morning budget flight quickly turned into a nightmare in the sky — and for one passenger, a seat belt may have been the only thing standing between survival and tragedy.